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Post by oxbowfarm on Dec 22, 2013 10:40:55 GMT -5
Looking for input on favorite seed envelopes, and good sources for same.
I like the large craft coin envelopes for stuff like beans and corn, and I often get them at Staples or whatever, but I'd love to know of a cheaper source.
For small seeds I've for a long time used a box of side opening glassine stamp collectors envelopes that I got a garage sale. I've just finally run through my supply and I'm looking for an alternative replacement.
I kind of like glassine, it's got an old school aesthetic, but the stamp envelopes were not very secure. I'd definitely like something more like a small coin or parts envelope, material not essential, I've gotten all different types of envelopes in trade and they all seem to work, but the end opening envelopes are much less leaky in my experience.
Where's the best place for good envelopes?
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Post by ferdzy on Dec 22, 2013 11:41:53 GMT -5
I got a box of 2.75 x 4.25 glassine bags from ULINE. I thought they'd be a lifetime supply, but looks more like 5 years. When I google, I get the Canadian website, but they are an American company. This was the cheapest I found online by a fair bit. www.uline.ca/Product/Detail/S-12470/Retail-Bags-Paper/2-3-4-x-4-1-4-Flat-Glassine-BagsNot acid-free, I'm sure. But I figure if my seeds don't like my bags, they REALLY won't like my soil.
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Dec 22, 2013 11:49:18 GMT -5
I usually use small plastic zip-lock bags from the craft store. I get three sizes measuring 2" x 3", 3" x 4", and 4"x6". They are somewhat annoying because I can't write on the outside and expect the writing to stay legible. So I end up using labels or cutting up a piece of paper and sticking it inside the package with the seeds. I found some slightly larger bags at the second-hand store which had a white area that could be written on. I like those but only saw them one time. Zip-locks are clear so I can easily evaluate how much seed is left, and what traits it has. I really like " coin envelopes" made from kraft paper which I get from Uline. The 2.25" x 3.5" inch size is great for sharing most types of seeds. 3-1/8" x 5 1/2" works well for larger quantities of bigger seeds like corn or beans. Alan uses this type of envelope and has a rubber stamp to simply add contact information. It is easy to write on paper and labels stick well. From a landrace gardeners perspective... Since I am sharing seeds of beans and corn that are very colorful, and watermelon that has lots of textural diversity, I really like making seed packets with clear plastic at the farmers market because it makes a more appealing visual display. Cost of the smallest size plastic envelopes is about 1 to 2 cents from local craft stores. The smallest paper envelopes cost about 5 cents including shipping. For larger lots of seed that I'm storing at home I use glass jars. They range in size from 1 cup to one gallon. While I am in the field gathering seed pods I typically use paper lunch bags. They are easy to write on and if the seed isn't too wet when I collect it they will continue to dry in the bag without molding.
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Post by blueadzuki on Dec 22, 2013 12:44:05 GMT -5
My storage stuff is a real hodgepodge. A lot of it is in coin envelopes. both the Plastic and Manila type, which I also get at Staples. A few years ago, my parents bought me some instant garden kits at a store closeout which had seed envelopes too. Those have the bonus of having printed spaces for all the info to be put in order (good when your penmanship is as cruddy as mine) But I'm nearly out of those, so they are mostly reserved for things where I have a lot of groups of seed that look alike and need to remember which is which (like my wheat samples, or the cukes). Some of the smaller quanties of rarer seeds are stored in screw top glass dram vials (aka tissue vials) that I get at the Container store. They're too expensive for storing everything (especially considering how often they break) but are a lot better for things that you are afraid you might break, or crush, or that I need to top off regularly (i.e. supplies I am accumulating one seed at a time, as opposed to harvest where all the seed gets stored at once. Really poisonous seeds also get a vial, since I tend to try aviot touching them if I can help it. Smaller seeds (both in terms of seed size and quantity) of the type above (where things are going in one by one) are stores in a kind of stacking screw top container originally designed for storing pills. I find this is good for them since besides being secure, it allows me to group related seeds in one "tower" (for example I have a tower for vetches, one for small clover type legumes etc.) There is also a box (designed for people who craft with "seed" beads that has a lot of smaller boxes with sliding tops inside it. Larger seeds tend to be stored in sectioned boxes of the kind sold in craft stores for beading/holding embroidery floss)In one case, I found a floss box with movable dividers and removed them, to make BIG sections (that's where I store my Andean corn). Seeds I have in larger quanties tend to be kept in glass jars. Some of these are wide mouthed glass jars I also got from Container store (I tend to prefer glass to plastic, as it is easier to clean than plastic. But quite a few of the more actively used ones (lablab beans, rice beans etc) are actually house in nearly spherical thick glass jars that originally held a type of honey I was very fond of. and similarly my bindweed seed continer is a corked glass bottle that originally held pine syrup (don't ask)A few of them are still actually in glass bottles with screw on tops as well, though I am in the process of transferring those to jars as I find ones that will fit (it's not that the bottles are bad for storage (though shaking the seed out is a bit of a pain) but the container store ran out of that size of bottle recently, and I need them in the kitchen for holding my homemade extracts, tinctures and dyes.) Finally a very few of my things are stored in little silk drawstring bags (that I think originally came from a soup mix or a tea kit. Those are ONLY used for things like allium and potato bulbs; things that have a lot of moisture and need to "breathe" to keep from going bad. The bags are better for me than paper ones since the strings mean I can hang them when I'm not using them, making it less likely I'll sqash them or step on them or drop something on them (my seed space is very cluttered)
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Post by rowan on Dec 22, 2013 14:16:41 GMT -5
I have tried looking for a cheaper alternative to manilla envelopes but have now given up. One thing that you might be interested in is my way of planning for my monthly sowings. I sort the years seeds by buying those plastic sheet pockets for trading cards and putting them in a folder to put my seed packets in. This allows me to see at a glance what I am due to put in and what month.
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Post by richardw on Dec 22, 2013 15:18:21 GMT -5
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Post by templeton on Dec 22, 2013 17:16:22 GMT -5
I use paper lunch bags for collecting and drying, then transfer to ziplock sandwich bags with the white panel for writing on. I'd prefer little micro ziplocks, but they are more expensive. I've gone to the plastic bags after having a grub attack on my dry pea seed. I'm a bit wrried about getting the seed dry enough, but not too dry, for storage in the fridge. Much of my seed is breeding lines, so i don't have enough to smash them with a hammer as carol deppe suggests as a test for dryness. Little seed goes into buff colored seed envelopes, then sorted by varieties or color- all the green tomato variety envelopes for example, go into a lunch size ziplock, which gets labelled 'green toms', then into the Solonaceae shoebox. I've just started to move from cardboard shoeboxes to air tight fridge/freezer plastic containers, the sort with the lugs that snap over the top edge. I'm planning on using these for season to season storage, giving them a squirt of CO2 from the soda stream gadget i bought for ms T for christmas before i snap the lid on.
I know from a previous job that eucalypt seed is not recommended to be stored in paper envelopes, something about drawing out important oils from the seed. Not sure of the status of this for veges.
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Post by zeedman on Dec 22, 2013 18:04:38 GMT -5
Oxbow, would the envelopes be for seed storage, or for seed sales & exchanges?
For seed storage, I use zip lock freezer bags of various sizes... they are the least permeable, and tend to have better seals. A label placed inside with the seed lists the variety, source, and year grown (usually a 3 X 5" index card). Frozen seed is in zip lock bags within canning jars. For swapping/mailing out small seed, I use small zip lock envelopes from the craft store, enclosed within coin envelopes. Given my frequently sub-zero winter climate, paper envelopes risk seed damage in transit, so any seed I send out must be in a sealed package. Larger seed is packed in zip lock snack bags.
At one point, I was using computer-generated self-adhesive labels when sending out seed; I kept a pre-printed sheet with each variety, which made it very easy to label seed exchanges. Unfortunately, I lost all of those labels during a computer crash, and since I also lost the program that printed them (WordPerfect), never went back to that system... just hand-printing them now. If I go back to printed labels (which is my intent) I will use a printer that does individual labels, and software that can be easily transferred.
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Post by oxbowfarm on Dec 22, 2013 18:52:39 GMT -5
Oxbow, would the envelopes be for seed storage, or for seed sales & exchanges? This is for seed exchanges. For storage I mostly use glass jars. We have a very large supply of glass jam and quart jars that hold most of our home saves seed. I'm mainly looking for a small envelope for small seeds. I like the 2.75 X 5 craft envelopes for stuff like beans and corn,you can get a good 3-5 ounces into one if need be. I need a good envelope for small seeds. I used the glassine for a long time but they are gone, and they were less than ideal for small rolly seeds like brassicas.
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Post by billw on Dec 22, 2013 18:58:13 GMT -5
I like 3x3in plastic ziplocks with a writing block. They go for 2-3 cents each in quantities of 1000, which lasts me a couple years.
The only problem with plastic is that seeds tend to mold if you don't get them fully dry.
For larger quantities, plastic sandwich bags.
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