I've been growing my own vegetables for some years now, and I grow by crop rotation, which I will elaborate on another time - in short: all vegetables are grouped by crop type and those groups are planted on another bed each year to avoid the risk of diseases and soil depletion.
Not all that easy, but I guess you gathered that.
But everything is possible with a thorough system and I just happen to be an organizing genius.
First of all, you not only want to get hold of seed, you also have to know where and when you have to use all that seed. It won't be the first time you're standing there with your bag of fennel seed while the carrots and the onion is already popping up everywhere.
Thorough organization means everything here.
And really, you only have to think well about your system once. Once you have a plan, you can use it again every year with a small change here or there - because, honestly, those 24 beetroots have never been eaten and that leaf beet is not all that tasty, really.
After having tried several things every year, I know approximately where I should sow and how many turnips I can make my children eat before protests arise.
Beside growing my own vegetables, I have another hobby, namely: making lists, putting up schedules and colouring. And all this can be easily integrated into my vegetable garden hobby. Just have a look at the picture above.
On the right, you can see my seed box, everything neatly ordered by crop type. And because I don't want to go through that box every single time I want to know what to sow next, I created a schedule, which I will zoom into in a moment.
Every year, I then write in the notebook in the lower left corner what I sowed and where, what was a success and what wasn't. The next year, I then use that plan as a guide for the new season.
The notebook has five cards, one for each crop type (roots, fruits, legumes, cabbages and leafs). On those cards are all the seeds. And instead of turning my seed box upside down everytime, I just look at my card and check what has to be sown at that specific moment and voilà, flawless, I told you so!
On top of the card, I put the crop type. On the left, I put the different crops and next to it, I write whether or not the crop needs manuring, whether or not it needs a lot of or little manuring, whether it has to be compost or stable manure. And you then finish everything as you please, with personal abbreviations (Sow, Warm Glass or Warm, Plant Out, Harvest, etc.), with drawings, or like me: with colours.
I also enter row and crop distance, to make things even more easy.
And on top of all that, entirely for free, I'm giving you my cards! You only have to print them and cut them out. How generous is that, ha!
