Allotments 4 All
General => Top Tips => Topic started by: agapanthus on January 11, 2006, 11:45:58
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Thought I would get more organised this year. Bought a plastic concertina file case (with carrying handle) from Tesco ( about £4) put the lettered tabs in place and filed all my seed packets in it....not before checking sowing times and writing these in a homemade diary and putting this in the front of the file. It took a while to write the diary, but now instead of having seed packets all over the place and wondering when they all had to be planted I can just look at the appropriate months and have the seeds there all ready:)
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Unfortunately wouldn't work for me as I went a bit mad with the seed order and would need an entire drawer just for April :-[
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Good idea Agapanthus. I've put all my seed sowing/transplanting details on a spreadsheet but haven't actually organised my seeds, so I may well borrow your idea (if you haven't copyrighted it!).
And for people with more money than sense, there's this:
http://www.thecuttinggarden.com/html/GiftCard.asp?Cat=1&Product=668
Cheers,
Rob ;)
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Bupster: I've got about 200 + packets in it at the moment and there's still room!! ;D
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Rob: Mine's better...it's got a carrying handle!!! No I hav'nt patented it...lol
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Rob: Mine's better...it's got a carrying handle!!! No I hav'nt patented it...lol
... and it doesn't cost 20 quid! :o
Cheers,
Rob ;)
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I print off my spreadsheet, sorted by sowing dates, and keep a copy in my shed, together with all my seeds in a biscuit tin left over from Christmas ... This method works for me, but I am always looking for improvements ...
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I keep a diary on excel, just need to look down the month column and I know what I should be doing, still updating it but can be found here:
http://www.news2share.co.uk/
As I did last year, I'll start a new page in the workbook to record sowing dates, germination dates and planting out dates etc. that way when something does well or fails, I have a record for the following year. :)
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Jesse....just had a browse through your website..I'm very impressed and jealous! Well done :D
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I use the the tasks function in Outlookat the moment (I have added a special catagory to keep allotment tasks separate, which avoids me turning up to meetings with a bag of parsnip seeds and a trowl)
I was impressed by the spreadsheet on your website Jesse, it has the advantage of being able to take a longer view than you get with Outlook Tasks.
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thanks! :) I find it useful, I'd forget what to do each month otherwise :) It needs some more updating as I've received more seeds through swaps, I did plan on growing less this year but that doesn't look like it's going to happen.
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Yay to Jesse's website. And hopefully Yay to getting organised. Got seeds sorted in bags labelled with months, but have often forgotten to see what there is to be sown.
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My seeds are just thrown in a box with an elastic band around them sitting on my greenhouse staging! I need to get more organised! Dan :-)
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oooh Dan, greenhouse + seeds = damp & extreme temps, I'd get them indoors where they'll be drier, you want to store them somewhere dry and cool. :)
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Thanks Jesse, will take your advice and move them, Thanks a lot! ;)
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Excellent planner Jesse, have added it to my 'favourites' list!
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I've just organised my seeds into an A4 folder. Excel was fine for planning the planting order but my seeds were still muddled up in a box. I've bought some A4 plastic wallets designed to hold photographs. Most seed packs with fit in comfortably (not beans, they need to be folded). I've got them arranged by planting month (although this makes March/April/May) rather heavy. But what I will be doing is moving some crops later into the year so they succeed earlier crops. I'll probably put little notes in as well regarding pruning etc.
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Just wanted to say thanks for the excel spreadsheet, too, Jesse.
For some reason, I've always kept track of what was planted in what bed when, on paper, which inevitably has been 'tidied up' by the following year. Don't know why I never thought of using the pc before.
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Agapanthus, well done you. Mine are all still in a tuppaware box!
Jesse hope your ears are glowing girl, looks like you're a success ;)
Great website by the way ;)
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ooooh ;D glad it's useful to some of you then :)
I'm eyeing up OH's christmas present, a huge tin of Roses chocolates....can't wait 'till he finishes them so I can have the tin to store my seeds in. :D
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I have made a spread sheet showing the vegetables in alphabetical order, the varieties held, sow date, where to sow and transplant details. There are spare columns for notes. I have put my seeds into groups within plastic wallets with a label on front. The groups are brassicas, root veg, greenhouse (aubergines, tomatoes, chillies, peppers), peas, courgettes and squash, onions and leeks, beans, lettuce and chicory, and herbs.
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One way would be to use a concertina file which has month tabs (rather than the usual alphabetical ones). Place the seed packets in the first recommended planting month and then sow accordingly. If the planting season is spread over more than one month, check the packets at the end of each month and move to the next month if necessary.
Within each monthly section the seed packets could be stored by alphabetical or date sowing order.
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Petuariapete ....But then you are still referring to packets,,,(and I have hundreds:( ) ....still the diary for me.
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Agapanthus,
Reading this forum, I have come to the conclusion that restraint and seed buying are mutually exclusive!!
I bought 3 packets for a pound from my local pound shop yesterday. Rumour has it that it is going to close down soon, so hopefully more bargains to be had.
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I'm just a gal that can't say no....... :-[ :-[ :-[ :-[
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At the end of the year I am going to sort through my seeds, put spares into neat little brown envelopes, and staple them inside Xmas cards. This will get rid of seeds close to sell by date to make room for more. ::) ;)
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I use this wooden box unit, bought from Ikea some years ago.
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Simpler method:
Get an old shoe box or ice cream container, make some cardboard dividers, and label these with months of the year or anything else you need to organise your seeds by. You can now organise your seeds by sowing date/month.
If you choose a container with a airtight lid than you can seal the seeds away to keep them a bit fresher for longer too.
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Thanks everyone for this thread. Shall be printing it out as evidence to manuel (aka the OH) that I do indeed need a filing system for my seeds.
Just set up a home office for him/ his new job and bought a filing cabinet making our old metal filing box (with suspension files hanging in it) reduntant but he won't let me have it................... yet!!
I too have an excel spreadsheet detailing planting times etc.. but all my seeds are in two boxes in the shed (one for flowers, one for veg) and they are a right muddle!
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I just keep mine in order of time of sowing and check through once a month to sow.
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I remove mine from their original packaging, cut out the lable and insert seeds and labels into a small resealable bags, they are then grouped by type into large resealable bags, placed in a shoe box and then kept in the fridge.
After doing this you are left with a far smaller volume of stuff, seed packaging is large for what is actually contained.
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After doing this you are left with a far smaller volume of stuff, seed packaging is large for what is actually contained.
Thats very true. Done to sell the product and not as an actual container for the seed.
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I love all these ideas for storing seeds...I too decant any seeds from the original packet after sowing into small brown envelopes I buy from Staples. I write on it what they are, sowing dates and best before date. I then store all these much smaller packets in plastic wallets in the fridge. Each month has its own wallet and I move seed packets forward to the next month if they can be sown then too. I save any silca gel packets I get hold of and slip these into the wallets to help keep the seeds dry.
I then cut up the original seed packet to keep the info from the front and back of the packet, mount it onto a "recipe card" and keep them all in alphabetical order in a large card index box..so then I can refer to the much needed care info after I have germinated the seeds. I even have stiff plastic wallets that I slip these cards into if I am taking them outside...everything I take outside gets either wet or muddy!!
This sounds very complicated, but it isn't and it whiles away the time waiting for the weather to improve ::)
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Mmmm I think my OH would end up up sprinkling them on his muesli! ::) ;D ;D
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Really good idea to mount the seed packs Helenclare and I love the sound of your seed organising system. Might have to give the fridge a miss though, it's not big enough ;D. Will give this a go - still plenty of time to play whilst the season grinds to a start (snow forecast this weekend >:()
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:P 6-7 big containers of seeds and great fun rumaging throught them each week ;D no system but everything i want to sow gets pulled out into one box at the start of the year and added to when i find something i fancy ;D dissorganised chaos works for me :)