Seed organizing

[GoDawgs]

After receiving my MMMM seeds I had to do something so that I wouldn't have to sort through all those packets to find something. They got sorted into piles arranged alphabetically. Then I "borrowed" a small plastic box used for leftovers, made some dividers and filed the piles. LOTS of B's and S's. Now I can find what I need to look at. And no, I didn't sort each pile alphabetically.

[Tormato]

After receiving my MMMM seeds I had to do something so that I wouldn't have to sort through all those packets to find something. They got sorted into piles arranged alphabetically. Then I "borrowed" a small plastic box used for leftovers, made some dividers and filed the piles. LOTS of B's and S's. Now I can find what I need to look at. And no, I didn't sort each pile alphabetically.

Where do you file 42 Day, and the 1884s?

[GoDawgs]

If I had 'em, they'd go in the back!

Of course, one could file 42 under F for Forty Two and under E for the Eighteen but personally I'd stick 'em in the back

[Tormato]

A very good system.
My knowledge from using a computer is not much.
My system is in my head......

Mine, too.
If one of us loses it, maybe we could do a Spock mind meld.

[zeedman]

When I first started seed saving, I just kept the seeds in freezer bags, stored within a couple heavy-duty boxes @Tormato style. Everything was stored together, alphabetically by name, and the boxes labeled 'A - __' accordingly. Eventually, as more boxes were added, everything became divided - first by family, then individual boxes for the more common species. Because I do a lot of exchanges, it eventually reached the point where I was spending too much time digging through what was by then 12 boxes, so I began looking for file cabinets. DW found a matching set of (5) used 4-drawer cabinets in a resale store, in good condition, for about $150... which is what I use now. Large seeds are still in freezer bags, but spread out enough to make finding something easy. Small seeds (tomatoes, peppers, etc.) are zip locks within large 8.5" X 11" labeled envelopes, stacked edgewise. Seeds yet to be grown for the first time are stored by family in gallon freezer bags (within smaller bags if quarantined).

Having had 2 computer crashes where I lost everything, I've avoided relying on spreadsheets - my record keeping is old school. I use two card files with large index cards; one box for legumes, one for everything else. The cards record the name, source data, years grown (and weight, for legumes), and the location of lots in storage. Small index cards follow lots of saved seeds continuously from collection to storage, with name, date, and location grown (to identify any future crosses).

The only reason I've considered using a spreadsheet would be to track exchanges, in the event that I ever lose all of my seed & need to replace it... or in the rare instance where I find out that something I shared was being circulated under a false name or typo. I found out in 2020 that a cowpea I had been sharing was circulating under a false name for 15+ years.