Interactive lesson

Seed bank, step by step

Interactive lesson: a home seed bank with a reserve, codes and variety cards, a renewal plan and safe seed swapping in your community.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Two copies

A home seed bank has two parts: a working stock and a reserve.

Jars aren't a bank yet — It becomes a bank when you know what's in each jar, how old it is, how well it germinates, where it came from and when you have to sow it again.
Working stock — Seed for sowing and swapping in the coming years. Keep it in a cool, dry larder or the fridge, enough for 2–3 sowings.
A reserve somewhere else — You don't touch the reserve unless the working stock is lost. Keep it in the freezer, in another house or with a friend, enough for 1–2 sowings.
You don't need everything — A bank of 15–30 varieties you actually sow is worth more than 200 packets you never renew. Add a variety only when you can maintain it.

Why: Without order, varieties disappear quietly: the seed ages, the label fades and the story of the variety is forgotten. Fire, flood, mice or a broken fridge destroy all your seed at once if it's all in one place.

A copy with a relative in another town or with a member of a seed group is insurance that costs nothing.
The big gene banks do the same: duplicates are kept on the other side of the world, for example in the Svalbard vault.

2. Inventory and codes

Every variety gets a code, a packet and one line in the inventory.

Same code everywhere — The code is the same on the packet, the jar, the card and in the inventory.
How the code is built — Crop in 3 letters, variety number and harvest year. TOM-03-27 is the third tomato variety, 2027 harvest.
Renewal changes the year — When you renew a variety, only the year changes: TOM-03-27 becomes TOM-03-31. Same variety, new generation.
What goes in the inventory — Code, crop, variety, origin, harvest year, quantity, germination and test date, location and renewal year.

Why: The code links the packet, the jar, the card and the inventory. When it's the same everywhere, you always know which variety it is and which harvest it's from.

Update the inventory twice a year: in November, when you put away new seed, and in February, after the germination test.
If you keep a spreadsheet, print a copy once a year and keep it with the jars.