Seed Trading forum: 2012 Hog Wild Seed Swap - Thread #6
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 I love the ring binders. The plastic sleeves come in many different sized pockets too.  I still use a plastic latch-lidded sewing supplies box for big, bulky vegetable and pond plant seeds, but the rest are divided by sowing method in the binders. I also use the labeled dividers to separate seed packets according to growing conditions. It's busy enough at planting time; I tend to get bogged down and a bit stressed if I can't immediately find the seed I'm looking for - and that just defeats the purpose. Gardening and seed starting should be fun!  |
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| Ooh, I really like the idea of using different binders for different sowing methods. I've got a tomato/basil and a sweet/hot pepper binder, but I was trying to put all my flowers in one big binder, until they got out of hand. Ragtag, thanks for the tip about Michael's. That sale price is pretty much the same as Walmart's 99 cents for a pack of 100 -- and I agree, that little box is handy! The little box would probably also work well for holding a bunch of seed packets when I'm organizing for a swap, too. Circles of Support for Breast Cancer I'm learning to dance in the rain! Thank you, Sally & Chris & Sharon. |
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| Tuink, glad to hear it wasn't cancer, but still hoping for the best outcome possible for you. Chelle, it seems like you have mentioned your binders before, but I never thought it was for me. But you have caught me on a good day ... I have to go shopping today and I will add them to my list. So at the very least, I will have them here when and if I find the time to get those seeds organized. I have been listening to books on tape when I'm in the basement exercising. Sometimes I hate to shut the book on tape off. LOL Organizing seeds would extend the time. :o) My Piggy seeds http://cubits.org/ellasgarden/db/2014piggyseedswap/view/9878... Using BB Code at Cubits.org: http://cubits.org/special/pages/bbcode.php |
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| Chelle, i take it you don't refrigerate your seeds that are in your binder? (I suppose that would get an odd look from a mother-in-law over for a visit and sneak'n a peek to see what brand of pickles you have) Are there any type that you do slip in the fridge? I had been trying to put my surplus seeds in the way-back, but dear hubby kept on throwing them on the side table with disgust. This is the same man that is okay with keeping mealworms for fishing next to the butter. CC CC |
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CC..  oooooo.......binders........that sure beats all heck out of the way I'm keeping them |
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I keep a few types of refrigerated seeds in a closed jelly jar with desiccant packets. I probably worry unnecessarily about condensation, but I feel better if I re-purpose those packets!  My binders are kept in a cold area next to an outside door that we don't use in the winter. During the summer they hang out in a dark and cool steamer trunk type of thing that I also use as an end table.  |
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| Huh . . . binders! I never thought of that. I am going to buy some sleeves and start sorting seeds . . . should keep me busy and stop me from prematurely starting too many seeds on my windowsill while I impatiently wait for spring! |
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| I like the binders but they get cumbersome for large beans and such for me. I now keep mine seperated by type in organizer bins in my kitchen drawers. but wondering if they wouldnt do better in the fridge. |
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| I bought some clear plastic binder-pages for holding trading cards, but only a few Zip-locs fit in each pocket. For some reason, I didn't enjoy using them. Maybe it just wasn't "what I'm used to", which is multiple Zip-locs bundled by category inside bigger glassine envelopes, inside 3-pound clear plastic tubs. However, a waiter at a Chinese restaurant I go to made the "mistake" of asking what tomato seeds I thought he should send to his mother back in China, for Mother's Day. He didn't know what kinds she would want most. So, the next day I came in with one of those clear plastic trading-card-pages, each of 9 pockets stuffed with a different tomato seed sample in a 2x3" Zip-Loc and a note with the variety name and a description: some cherries, a yellow grape, a paste, some non-red and some extra-early or cold-tolerant.. He was delighted and a half. It's funny - 9 Zip-locs with a rubber band around them looks like NOTHING, and it's annoying to try to read them. But put them into a clear plastic page, and they look like the Holy Grail of Tomatoes, or the Svalbard global seed vault. I didn't get a photo of his presemt, but here's one somewhat like it.  I need to upload a recent shot of my Stash. It expanded to fill two boxes when I decided it was easier to get at the seeds when each tub was less full. Also, I found a source of SQUARE tubs when Safeway went over to stocking peanuts from a different vendor.  |
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| You folks never let me down! Great ideas for seed storage. Thanks for all the ideas. I am not a trading card collector, nor a photo album person, but I will make an effort to find the various sizes of plastic pocket pages to see if I can find a method that will work for me. It looks promising. I tend to save by species - 12 varieties of hardy Hibiscus or 18 morning glory cultivars. Maybe a page for each would work for me. Keeping them divided by cultivation requirements or seed sprouting needs will take some thought. If the journey is the goal, I'm good - this will definitely be a learning experience! |
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I tried alphabetizing in the binders...once.  Adding or removing (using or trading) a packet tends to have me moving the next 50 packets! I get confused too easily for that to work. |
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ragtag wrote: Michaels! Yay! My favorite store! I'm glad I read this post on Friday which gives me one more day before the sale ends. Thank you! Psalm 100 (look it up) |
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chelle wrote:I tried alphabetizing in the binders...once. I leave several blank pockets between each letter so I don't have to do that. With a binder it would be easier since you can add pages. I will have to redo my book when I get my seeds from this swap, but it's probably good to do once a year anyway... obviously I'm not a very active trader. |
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| I have a similar box of 2"x3" 'Bagettes' that I bought at our local independent craft store; much like the ones from Michael's. The difference between these two: the ones from WalMart, the plastic is thin and flimsy and sometimes hard to open because you have to work to separate the top. The craft store ones cost more ($2.49 for 175) but, they are heavy duty & sturdier ~ plus, one side of the top is shorter than the other which makes them so much easier to open! At first I was upset that I had to pay more for them, since WalMart was out but once I started using them, I noticed right away that they were better and easier to open. That made me happy. FAITH over fear! |
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| I commute to a small town about 10 miles away - it has a Walmart but no craft/art stores. My hubby drives to the city where there is a Michaels - I'll have to start a list for him. I never thought to look there for the envelopes, but they look handy in that little dispenser box. I'm glad to know they are heavier duty and easier to work with. |
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| I had bought a box of little brown envies for my seeds, but everyone says use plastic. Why is the plastic better? I was afraid the seeds would sweat in plastic. Tahlmorra lujhala mei wiccan (The fate of a man rests always within the hands of the gods) |
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| I use both paper and plastic for seed packets... I prefer plastic for my corn and watermelon seeds, because they are breeding projects, and the shapes and colors of the seeds are important to me while planting. And since I save seeds fruit-to-packet, that really simplifies my planting. One year I planted somewhere around 100 rows of corn from brown paper envelopes. I vowed that I wouldn't store corn in paper again. If there is any chance at all that the seed is a bit damp still, it goes into paper, because in my climate, if I have a problem with humidity, it is being too dry. [One packet I sent into the hoggy swap was in paper because the seeds were just barely done fermenting.] If I leave a plastic bag of corn seed in the sun while planting, it will often get condensation inside it. Paper wouldn't do that. But I can put plastic bags of seeds directly into the freezer, and don't have to worry about the seeds getting wet from condensation when I take them out. Bugs chew into both paper and plastic, so I slightly prefer plastic because it is easier to see if the seed is contaminated. I like resealable plastic bags because I can take out a few seeds and reseal it easily. Paper envelopes with lick-it-seals are awkward. I can only get about 4 seals out of them, by licking only a small section of the flap at a time. I have also used self-sticky glue on them which helps, but it doesn't last as long as plastic. I also like paper with "blue painter's tape". Paper is easier to write on. Permanent markers are not permanent on most plastic bags, so I have to affix labels which are prone to falling off. I almost always put outgoing seeds in plastic, because I think that people like to see what they are getting. Paper is more traditional, and it is emotionally unsettling to me to send seeds in plastic. Author of Mother Earth News Blog about Landrace Gardening: http://www.motherearthnews.com/search.aspx?tags= Lofthouse |
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| Joseph you can send any seeds I ask from you in paper if you want. I just staple them closed again after getting what I want out of paper bags making sure to fold it over a time or two first. |
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| I use whatever I have handy and would be suitable. Larger seeds goes into the plastic or paper bags. Tiny seeds and seeds that tend to stick to plastic, I put into glassine envelopes and then into a bag. When I was in Japan, I found a bag at the 100 yen store (similar to our Dollar Stores) that had assorted sizes of plastic bags so got some of those. Those of you who have bags with yellow, pink, or green stripes from me - you've got a souvenir from Japan |
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| Binders just get in the way for me I just use big baggies with sandwich bags inside those to divide the different type of seeds like one has salvias another has annuals and if I have too many of those I take them out and divide into sandwich bags and label accordingly and put in a large sandwich bag to keep them all together in the crisper I just don't feel right having them sit around the house I used to keep them under my bed on the floor in the winter but would forget to put them in the crisper once the weather started to warm up and now that I have these lovely cats in the house they are much safer in the crisper :rofl: I'd love to start some geraniums just for this older lady I know here but they are so hard for me to start even on a heat mat and really I'm not sure if my heat mat is going to work for this year poor thang is starting to show its wear from having it so long and then there is the lantana that needs to be on a heat mat if I can't find a heat mat on sale this year guess I'll just have to use the top of my lights sure wish someone could have a coop for heat mats and thermostats! I can't believe how much heat mats have gone up since I bought mine years ago! The thing that gets me is they know you have to have a thermostat for your heat mat so they sell them separate??? It's such a rip off! |
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