Beginner Gardening: Seed Containers, 1 by Ozark

Ozark wrote:
We're in the Ozarks, and most every man and boy around here carries a round tobacco can in his hip pocket.

Those cans make great containers for saved seeds!

Some "cans", like Copenhagen, are still made of cardboard - those might not be so good. Many others though, like Red Man, are made of hard black plastic with a metal lid - and those work real well.

I remove the paper labels and wash the cans thoroughly, inside and out. A sticky label with the variety name and year goes on the metal lid, and those labels can be removed for re-use of the can. The lids fit snug but they're easy to get on and off, the cans are bug-proof, and they stack well for storage. Unlike with envelopes, you don't have to pour seeds out in your hand while planting in the garden - just hold the open can in one hand and plant with the other. Also with these, you don't have to try and pour extra unplanted seeds from your hand back into the torn-off corner of a seed envelope as I've done many times.

Even when I buy mail-order seeds, I open the envelopes and move them into labeled cans. The cans are easier to handle in the garden and better for long-term storage if I have seeds left over. Also, when planting from a can I know how many seeds I have left and get the spacing to come out right in rows. Just a helpful tip, I think.