How to Organize Your Seeds

Here are a few ways to organize your collection. Some of it will depend on the size of your collection. Some basic structures are:
1.  Alphabetical - all types of seeds are in the same drawer(s) and organized alphabetically by common name. Ex. Beans, Cauliflower, Daisies.
Advantage:
  • Easy for people to find things if the collection is small
  • Don't need many dividers
  • People don't need to figure out where to find vegetables, ex. they don't need to know what family beans are in.
Disadvantages:
  • People may not be aware that some seeds are more difficult to save reliably & may also borrow seeds and not be aware that there is a higher chance that the seeds are not true to type
  • Cumbersome for larger collections
  • Missed opportunity in providing some education by having people learn different plant families and the different seed saving requirements of those families, ex. beans are in the Pea Family and these are all "super easy" to save
2.  Collection is separated into Vegetables, Flowers & Herbs --> plant family --> alphabetical     
Downloads to dividers are available at Richmond Grows' "Create a library" page.
NOTE: Flowers and herbs are usually just alphabetically organized within collections.
Advantages:
  • Members can find seeds easier
  • Using families gives an underlying education of seed saving
Disadvantages:
  • Requires more education or signage to help members locate seeds.
  • More dividers needed.
  • Possibly more drawers needed.
3.  By seed saving level of difficulty & type of plant - Many libraries have seeds organized by "Vegetable, Flowers & Herbs" AND also identify the seed saving level on the cabinet drawer.  The basic divisions are often: "super easy, easy & difficult", "easy, moderate & difficult" or "easy and difficult." Downloads to icons to label drawers as "super easy", "easy" and "difficult" are available at RichmondGrowsSeeds.org. Below you can see some images that show the organizational structure, such as the LCL Seed, Sprout & Share Library in Licking County, Ohio that has "easy" and "difficult" labels on drawers. Here is a helpful visual by Dalhousie University in Canada giving a visual of this organizational structure that is posted in their library. Cap Cod Food Hub Seed Library made this visual that helps to explain the seed saving levels for the three-tiered level.

Seed Library Containers

Seed libraries can be large or small, gorgeously hand-crafted to salvaged material and everything in-between. The containers are as diverse as the communities that house them. Find something that works for your community and your budget. See the Featured Libraries page for more images.