Seed Organizers

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

I thought this year I'd buy clear plastic shoe organizer, mark each row with a month and then each shoe slot in the row label week 1, week 2 ...  I can hang in on the wall in clear view where I can't overlook it and then sort through the seed packets, read the backs to learn the planting times, pop the seed in the right slot and then hopefully never miss a planting date again.


It should also make organizing the seeds as they arrive easy as I can put them in the right planting week as soon as I open the box.  Once sown I can either leave them in their original slot or move them into the next week if I plan to sow them again.

An alternative would be to create an open box I could put on the potting shed bench that does the same thing.  Trouble is that takes 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.

It's 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.