Seed Storage & Organizing
It’s time to get my seeds organized since the whirlwind of the growing season has long sunset. I do this in part to prepare for seed starting in February and also to take inventory of our seeds in the hopes that I will place 1-2 orders and be good for the entire year. What has ended up happening in recent years is I’ve not accounted for low seed stock and have had to place multiple orders throughout the growing season, which is more expensive with shipping. So I’m determined to go through every bin this month to catalog what needs replenishing and make one big order by New Year’s Eve.
I like to take seed catalogs with me on our holiday travels. So far I’ve got High Mowing, Johnny’s Seeds, Baker Creek, and Wood Prairie (organic potatoes), having arrived in that order, too. I enjoy paging through the catalog though I know it’s not a comprehensive list. Also, some smaller companies no longer print their catalogs, such as Adaptive Seeds, and I love spreading our seed dollars around to small businesses doing great seed stewardship such as those folks in Sweet Home, Oregon.
This is Not Seed Starting
This is what we are doing when we store seeds. We are trying to create the worst possible germination conditions. In other words, we want dry, cool conditions, the antithesis of seed starting. Moisture and warm temperatures will decrease the longevity of your seeds. If you are growing on a small scale, your seeds may last you upwards of 5+ years. For us that was certainly the case, and is still the case for some seeds I overbought like genovese basil, sora radishes, and sweet alyssum where the upcharge to an ounce from a fractional ounce was indeed pennies, though it means I needed a farm to really use the seeds in a few years’ time.
Longevity
I have noticed over the past year that my seed germination and strength is definitely impacted with older seeds, and with the exception of beans and tomatoes, I re-roder seeds every four years or sooner for brassicas like broccoli, cabbage, and kale as I’ve noticed those seeds germinated with less strength and vigor in older seeds. I just happened to have new versus old seed this summer and the difference in size and strength from germination was noticeable, even to a distracted and busy gardener such as myself.
Now that we’re growing on a larger scale, we do tend to go through seeds a bit faster, so for many things we need to order seeds every few years. This includes beans, corn, some tomatoes, onions, zinnia, calendula, nasturtium, strawflower, and many root vegetables including carrots and radish.
Herb seeds I tend to hold onto for as long as there are seeds in the packet, as well as leafy greens. I had a 6 year old radish seed packet that had moisture damage go on to germinate in days. It proves that storing practices directly impact how well your seeds will keep, thus saving you money in the long run.
How you store your seeds is as important as how old they are.
Dry, Dark, and Cool
You must create a dry and cool container for seeds to ensure prime storage. The key to this is using desiccants in every container (more than one). I have been collecting desiccants for years for this purpose and every bin of seeds has 3-6 desiccants in the container absorbing any bits of moisture that may be trapped inside.
The containers themselves all have locking or sealing mechanisms that are airtight. I’ve trialed many different shapes and sizes over the years and while the Sterlite rectangular containers don’t hold the seed packets upright, they are the easiest to get a good seal on and for that reason I’d recommend them, especially if you only need one container.
Organizing within Containers
My containers are organized by plant family, by and large. I have a separate container for Legumes (peas and beans), Tomatoes, and Brassicas (all types including those I direct seed), but all the rest are some combination of vegetables, largely linked to the seasonality of when I sow them:
Peppers, Eggplant, Onions, Leeks, Celery, Cape Gooseberry
Lettuce, Spinach, Arugula, and Chard
Carrots, Parsnips, Beets
Corn, Squash, Cucumbers, and Melons
Radishes, Turnips
Herbs
Early sowing flowers (6-8 weeks before last frost)
Late sowing flowers (4 weeks before last frost)
Within each container, I also organize by when I’ll need them. So, for example, I purchased Artichoke seeds this spring for 2023 and I just tucked those in the very front of my Pepper, Eggplant, Allium container to visually remind myself to sow them in early February for, hopefully, a successful harvest next year.
When it comes time to updating my soil block sowing charts, I take the appropriate containers out and organize the seeds in the order in which I will sow the seeds, thus creating a sort of sowing calendar from front to back within each seed storage bin. When I sow the seeds, they go to the back of the bin for the season, sometimes until next year if it’s main season crops like peppers and eggplants.
Here’s a short video of my seed storage and organizing system, including the tips listed above and more:
