Just like taking an inventory of your freezer you want to keep track of your seeds as you plant them and your seedlings as they are transplanted. I have to admit that I am not always the best at keeping track of my plants! I usually start out well, but by the time I get things moved into my garden I have my master plan but don’t always follow it! Each year I am determined to do a better job than the previous year.
One of the tools that has really helped me is a free download off the Internet. One of my favorite blogs, Little House In the Suburbs puts it out and it is a little booklet that you put together yourself. You can use it to keep track of when you start your seeds and make notes as you go along. I will mark down what seeds I plant and then make notations as to when they sprouted and when I transplanted them.
Another tool I use is little stickers. I mark each container as to what seeds are planted and when I transplant my seedlings into individual pots I mark each pot with a sticker with the name of the seedling. That way when I have dozens of tomato seedlings I can tell which ones they are. This is very helpful when it comes time to moving the seedlings outside. When I move the plants into the garden I use wooden sticks that look like large Popsicle sticks to keep track of what I plant where.
Last year I took a seed saving class and the teacher of that class was one of the most organized people I’ve ever met. Of course if you are raising plants with the intent to save and sell the seeds you must be organized. She keeps a large notebook and keeps track of everything from where the seeds were purchased to germination dates and harvest dates. Even each seedling is marked with information.
Someday I hope to be so organized!
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Nancy on the Home Front 