I've found over the years that having a planting schedule doesn't necessarily mean I actually remember to get the seeds in the ground at the right time. I start the season with great intentions to be incredibly organized and sow successive planting of different vegetables so I can enjoy extended harvestings of each crop, then during the hectic summer planting months the weeks slip by and my weekly sowings of carrots, lettuce etc have gone by the wayside.
At the end of the planting season it is great to store left-over seed in a cool dark place. My old Burgon & Ball seed storer does wonders in keeping my remaining seed safe in an airtight box, it looks great and has handy monthly dividers to separate the seed and keep them in one place when not needed.
The trouble is most of my seeds need to be planted in the months of March - May, so jamming them all in one mass is guaranteed to ensure they linger in the box after the first sowing. I've tried filing them in photo boxes, separated by dividers, but out of sight they become definitely out of mind.
Last year I tried using a clear plastic shoe organizer, marked each row with a month and then labeled each shoe slot in the row label week 1, week 2 ... I hung it in on the wall in clear view where I couldn't overlook it and then sorted through the seed packets, read the backs to learn the planting times and popped the seeds in the right slot. It did make organizing the seeds as they arrived easier as I could put them in the right planting weeks as soon as I opened the mail. Once they were sown I either left them in their original slot or moved them into the next week if I planned to sow them again. If I wasn't such as seed glutton it would probably have been a good system, unfortunately it soon overflowed with seeds, the plastic ripped and I at one point it fell off the wall when I was shoving in packets and I had a mess of spilled seeds.
This year I think I finally have a solution. I've created an enormous open box I can put on the potting shed bench that does the same thing. The trouble was that it took finding a box and compartmentalizing it into sections instead of clicking 'buy' on amazon and not having to leave my armchair. For the less lazy, a box like the one below would do the trick nicely. I based it on the official Victory Garden seed box that belonged to the very first VG host James Underwood Crockett. A wonderful mix of Yankee frugality and common sense which helps to create gardening magic each spring. Hopefully I'll never miss a planting date again.
At the end of the planting season it is great to store left-over seed in a cool dark place. My old Burgon & Ball seed storer does wonders in keeping my remaining seed safe in an airtight box, it looks great and has handy monthly dividers to separate the seed and keep them in one place when not needed.
The trouble is most of my seeds need to be planted in the months of March - May, so jamming them all in one mass is guaranteed to ensure they linger in the box after the first sowing. I've tried filing them in photo boxes, separated by dividers, but out of sight they become definitely out of mind.
Last year I tried using a clear plastic shoe organizer, marked each row with a month and then labeled each shoe slot in the row label week 1, week 2 ... I hung it in on the wall in clear view where I couldn't overlook it and then sorted through the seed packets, read the backs to learn the planting times and popped the seeds in the right slot. It did make organizing the seeds as they arrived easier as I could put them in the right planting weeks as soon as I opened the mail. Once they were sown I either left them in their original slot or moved them into the next week if I planned to sow them again. If I wasn't such as seed glutton it would probably have been a good system, unfortunately it soon overflowed with seeds, the plastic ripped and I at one point it fell off the wall when I was shoving in packets and I had a mess of spilled seeds.
This year I think I finally have a solution. I've created an enormous open box I can put on the potting shed bench that does the same thing. The trouble was that it took finding a box and compartmentalizing it into sections instead of clicking 'buy' on amazon and not having to leave my armchair. For the less lazy, a box like the one below would do the trick nicely. I based it on the official Victory Garden seed box that belonged to the very first VG host James Underwood Crockett. A wonderful mix of Yankee frugality and common sense which helps to create gardening magic each spring. Hopefully I'll never miss a planting date again.
Not a good idea
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Victory seed box
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