One Plus Two Equals Perfect; Seed Storage Solutions

Have you ever passed up a good thing without really thinking it through.  Well that is what I almost did just that.  A while back I did a product review on the Seed Keeper Deluxe seed storage system.

I really  liked the concept, found it to be well thought out and nicely designed over all.  But then I looked at my huge seed box and went "Naw...too small for me." and decided I it would make a better gift loaded up with some veggie and flower seeds and local gardening info.  Well, here's what happened before that happened.

I had been secretly plotting in my mind...

As I sauntered down the storage isle of a local department store a couple days ago, I just happened to see the very same containers the Seed Keeper Deluxe uses out of the corner of my eye sitting at eye level on the shelves like someone planted them there...and I wasn't looking for them either.  Not only were they the same size but they came in other sizes too.  Now I could build a whole custom system...WOW!  I squealed with delight as I had secretly been trying to dream up a way to integrate the Seed Keeper into my system and this discovery was about to make that happen.

Yup...that should do it.

I stood there fondling the containers in their various sizes, going over in my brain all the stuff I had stored in my huge seed box and trying to figure out how I could make work with the help a couple of these new containers.  I grabbed one of the same size as the one the Seed Keeper kit and decided it would work for the seed I save from my garden and task relates supplies.  Knowing I still had my seed sowing tools that needed a place to reside I grabbed the low profile version since it seemed it might work nicely for the other tools and tags.  Selections complete I trotted up to the cashier and plunked my booty on the counter.

Tidy equals a happy garden gal.

I was pretty pleased with my find and downloaded with some detail for the cashier, what the containers were for and how I was going to use them; I talk a lot when I get excited about something like this.  She smiled and gave me one of "those" looks, nodding and said "That's nice" and handed me my boxes and the receipt.  Yeah...as my son says, "My mom is weird."  At least it's weird in a generous/funny/yes-I'm-addicted-to-gardening kind of way.  (I love you Sam.)

Bye bye bread box.

So after this experience I really think that if you are wanting a good seed storage system, the Seed Keeper Deluxe is a very good place to start.  If I wasn't such a compulsive seed buyer/saver one box would probably be enough, but its a good thing to know the system can grow right along with your garden and garden skills.

Happy Gardening!


Copyright © 2011 by Patty Hicks
All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. All reviews must include author's name and a link back to this blog.

Seed Keeper Deluxe Review

How's your seed storage organization?  If you are like a lot of folks I know you may stash seeds in the odd kitchen drawer, in a can in the garage, or where ever there is room.  If you are one of these types then you also know that this is the perfect way to lose seeds via not remembering where you stashed them. So what is a person to do?

This week I received a "Seed Keeper Deluxe" seed storage kit that I won in a contest hosted by Southern Post Journal.  The prize was thanks to Olivebarn.com

Right out of the box...I love the purple and green...my favorites!

This should be interesting.  That bread box is full of seed packets and more.

It is always fun to get stuff in the mail and especially something like this...I was so curious about how these little kits worked.  Honestly though, I knew they would be far too small for my needs but hey, a good product is a good product and from what I could tell it was worth a try.  So here's my review.

Love the dual system for organizing.  I plant using dates things need to be sown so this works for me.  Then I can file the seeds away afterward in the alphabetical portion.  And the alphabetic cards have tips on them that are very helpful.

The very first thing you see when you open the kit...instructions about what everything is and how to use them.

Keeping notes on the what and when of things is really helpful but I am so bad at keeping these records.  Maybe you won't be.

Glassine envelopes...I LOVE THESE!  Nice sized too.

A big black marking pen and wooden plant tags that are big enough to decorate if you want to.

Wonder how long the Bazic Permanent Marker will stay readable?  The Sharpie will last for several years.

A big thing I found myself wondering about was the stability of the felt marker in the kit...would it hold up in the sun light out in the garden?  There is nothing worse than marking a plant stake only to have it fade with the UV rays.  For me, this is a must know so I am doing a UV stability test in my kitchen window using my favorite marking pen...the Sharpie Industrial marker and pitting it against their marker.  May the best pen win!

Lots of other goodies in the kit too. Handy!

Okay...the fancy toothpicks made me laugh but are great for poking holes when sowing seeds in flats.

Oh more goodies can be found here!

Those are the contents of the kit and oh yeah, these nice gardening gloves that are clipped to my belt loop using the blue clip in the kit.  I like this idea...I'm going to be using this one.

Handy dandy idea.

Here is the most important question we need to ask anytime we are looking at a product that helps us to get organized...Will this kit serve my needs or is it just a gimmick?  I knew this was not a gimmick from the start when I looked at the smart system this company had put together.  But for my needs personally the answer is going to be no, its just too small.  I just have too much stuff and I already have a system in place quite similar to theirs.  Good ideas are shared by many of us gardeners, so nothing is really new...just passed from one gardener to another.

My favorite tools, pens and other paraphernalia...signs I've been doing this for a while.

When you have been saving and storing seeds as long as I have you generally develop a system that works well for you.  These systems are forged by how we work, think and how OCD we are.  I fit that latter category...I like things orderly and sometimes have to slap my hand and say..."It's good enough."  But one thing is for sure, I can always find what I'm looking for because of it.

Proof of my OCD...I can't bear to toss seeds until they have been ID-ed...These were in the bottom of the bread box.

Seed packets too tall...hmmm

To lay them sideways they need to be folded up.

The big fail for me was how seed packets need to be stored in this kit. The generic seed packet size fits nicely, but not those big ones they use for beans, peas, corn and some flowers.  Storing packets on their side can lead to spillage and folding packets makes them messy to deal with and hard to thumb through.

Nice latches that hold the lid on tightly.

 The container itself is actually one you can find at local department or craft stores and is probably the best size for a ready made product they could find.  Its quality is good and it's latches work well so that part is okay.  It will probably work good enough for most people but because of my specific needs for space and such it doesn't make the cut for me personally. I would love to see them have a container designed especially for seed packets, just over an inch taller and wider.  Then all the seed packets would fit easily.

What did I tell you?  I need another box and then some. (The gold envelopes are seeds I've collected.)

So here is my final analysis;  The Seed Keeper Deluxe is a wonderful product for beginning gardeners, gardeners who aren't as compulsive as I am about growing numerous varieties of everything or those with less of an addiction to seed saving than I have.  It is well thought through, has some forgivable weaknesses and over all an excellent product. 

I think mine will make a very nice little gift for a friend that has just started gardening. I'll add packages of favorite seed and tips on local sowing information and websites I like.  What a great way to get someone off on the right foot by helping them to stay organized right from the beginning.


Copyright © 2011 by Patty Hicks
All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. All reviews must include author's name and a link back to this blog.

Seed Box Wisdom Part 1

With the arrival of the seed catalogs comes the reminder that its time to sort through the seed stash.  If you are like me you have a lot of seed packets in that stash and over the years have spent endless hours going through them, dreaming, organizing, swapping and etc. As I was going through my box last week I was recounting all the mistakes I've made and realized there are a lot of you who may not have the slightest idea some of the things you may be doing that are possibly damaging your little treasure of seeds and causing failure...I know that was me.  I'm hoping by what I share in this series of posts will help you avoid some common pitfalls and benefit from some ideas that really work.

Organize for better production is key to reaping a good harvest.

#1 - Shopping
Being a wise seed shopper is sometimes a hard thing to do if you love to garden.  How many of you feel like a drunk in a liquor store when it comes to buying seeds and find yourselves sucked into the marketing tactics of seed purveyors?  You are not alone.  (I raise my hand)  Seed companies are masters at getting us to drool over every new or reintroduced variety of seed out there; note those gorgeous photos and well worded descriptions, its their job after all to get us to part with our money for their products.

A small sampling of what comes in the mail.

It seems this is pretty easy to get us to do too because of the simple fact that one seed packet don't cost much and if we fall prey to their tactics we will soon have spent a small fortune.  I figure I've wasted at minimum a couple hundred dollars over the past 15 years and probably much truth be told.  Just think, I could have bought a really nice little fountain with that money or other needed things. These days my rule of thumb is this...I have to have a place to grow it, I have to have a good reason to grow it (food, beauty or utility) and it has to be a good value.  I am notoriously cheap as a gardener after working in the nursery industry, a fact I find ironic...maybe it was just easier to get more stuff that way.  So lets take a look at some tips to help you with your seed stash.

My bread box turned seed box where all my treasured seeds are stored

#2 Where are your seeds?
I know that may sound simple enough for many of you to answer but there are so many people I know who just toss the seeds any old place.  It becomes an important question I think when you consider that seeds cost money you wouldn't stash dollar bills in junk drawers or other odd places.  I'm of the mind that seeds need to be kept in one place and kept in an environment that will ensure their viability for as long as possible otherwise I may as well just flush that cash down the toilet or toss it out the window.  When we buy seeds we are investing our money in the hope of a harvest so make that money go as far as it can.

#3 Know what you have!
How many of you have your seeds organized so you can quickly see what you have?  I'm guessing not many.  I used to hoard seeds and love to collect them from any where I could which left me with two huge boxes of seed packets and a very long list of what was in those boxes.  Needless to say there was no good way for me to keep up with what needed to be sown let alone remember what I had.  It was so exciting getting new varieties every year but honestly, its so much more exciting to me these days to actually reap a harvest from the seeds I have than just be a collector and keeper of the stash like I used to, if you know what I mean.  If you want to take hold of the reigns of your stash you have to make some hard decisions...get rid of what you won't sow and organize the rest so it makes sense and serves you the gardener in your efforts to garden.

Organized and ready to sow!

#4 Know what to throw out!
I have bad news...seeds don't last forever.  Its true and that's why its important to go through and edit your seed stash every year. Seeds get old and as they do their ability to germinate declines.  So how do you know what is maybe getting old or is no longer good?  Start by looking at those dates on the seed packets.

Save this date!

Oops that may me cost later.

If you forget and accidentally cut off the date its good to have a pencil handy to make note of that date on the package somewhere so you don't loose track of it again.  This is important because take onions for instance, onion seed is only good for one year which means you will need to replace it every year while tomato seeds last for several years.  The old seed can be tossed onto compost heap and if you're lucky, some of it may sprout but don't hold your breath.  Finally its a lot more fun to find unexpected plants you can transplant than to find the seeds you have sown were dead after you waited a month for them to germinate so just get rid of them already!

#5 - Knowing when to sow.
Its easy to find good information on this subject out there today.  Tons of garden blogs offer tips, Local Master Gardener offices and websites have seed sowing schedules as do seed companies and even some nurseries.  When you find one that suits your region keep a copy of it in with your seed stash, it will save your bacon and help you stay on track with your sowing.  It was interesting when over and over again I found people suggesting seeds should be stored in the order in which they are sown seasonally.  What genius!  A system that tells you what needs to be sown by a quick peek in the stash box!  Another thing about this system is it is not static but a migrating system.  That means if you have a crop like kale, that is sown more than once in a growing season, you just transfer that packet of seeds from its first position in the system up to the next month/season it needs to be sown in and it will be ready and waiting when you are.  Its a really beautiful system for the home vegetable garden or any garden actually.

Extra seeds saved just to give away

#6 - Seeds are for sharing!
Storing seeds and swapping seeds are really beneficial to most gardeners as seed packets hold more seeds than the home gardener will use in a year in most cases.  This makes a well organized stash a gold mine of sorts for if you have extra seed and wish to share them with others or to have on hand for a little seed swapping.  Seed swapping is totally fun and can be addicting though so be ware!  If you have a lot of extra seeds consider your local food bank as a place you might share them with.  More people are gardening than ever and those seeds could go to help feed a family or beautify an elderly person's yard, so put those still viable seeds in the hands of folks who can use them up before they die.

Happy Gardening!

Copyright © 2011 by Patty Hicks
All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including printing, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review. All reviews must include author's name and a link back to this blog.