Tuesday, February 27, 2007

An Organised Chaos



I'm not the most organised of persons. My idea of clearing my desk is cramming as much as possible into a drawer, bung the rest in a cupboard, close the door and that's that.

I used the same method with my packets of seeds. I just stored them everywhere I could and soon forgot all about them. When it was time for sowing, I had a hard time trying to locate the seed packets. And of course, not all could be found, which was very annoying, to put it mildly.

But one day I had a cunning plan: to buy a container for storing seed packets only.

Not all that long after the brain wave, I went to a flea market and found this wooden box. The lady who sold it to me had one herself that she used for storing her herbs in. That's what it says on the box: kruiden = herbs. I don't use it for herbs of course but for storing my seeds.

It has 9 compartments, one for each month starting with February and ending with October. In each compartment I store the seeds that have to be sown during that month.

And it's working well, this cunning plan of mine. As soon as I bring home the loot (the seed packets I just bought) I put them in my seed box and that's it. No more running around trying to find the seed packets because they are all there in my nifty box.

I took a picture of this years loot and of course, while I was photographing the packets of seed and my seed box, Merlijntje my youngest Russian Blue, decided to help me.

By the way Merlijn is Dutch for Merlin and "tje" at the end of a word stands for little, so his name would be little Merlin, even though he's the biggest of all the cats that live with me.

In seed time learn,
in harvest teach,
in winter enjoy.
William Blake

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous box! It's both functional and very stylish. I don't have enough seeds to stash in something like that, but I really love the idea. I may borrow it in the future, if I can find a similar container.

Carol Michel said...

I love your seed box. What a clever way to organize all your seeds.

Lis vom Lindenhof said...

Ha, ha, ist deine Katze auch immer so neugierig?
Da hast du ja ein tolles Schnäppchen gemacht. Ich säe nie viel aus, nur Mangold, Rukkola, Feldsalat und solche Sachen die man direkt ins Freie säen kann.

Libbys Blog said...

I have just had a lovely time reading through all your posts! The seed box is ingeneous I could do with one of these! Your cats are beautiful.
I look forward to popping back!

Anonymous said...

That's a nifty box, and your cat is doing what cats are famous for, isn't he? Being curious!

Gotta Garden said...

Does the seller ship to the USA??! Ha. This is just so perfect, clear lid and all...and not plastic! (slinking over to my totally disorganized seed drawer, the pile on the floor, and the other pile around the computer...however, my daylily seeds...now, they're organized! Ha. If you believe that...)

I want one! (maybe two...)

Annie in Austin said...

Mine are mostly in one basket, so I can usually find them, but that box is much better! Maybe Merlin will cast a spell so that all the seeds will germinate?

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Kylee Baumle said...

Love your box! I have one, too, that I found last year at an antique store. I've got it sanded, but not finished. And it's full of seeds. WAY too full - it doesn't hold all of them. That's because I have too many seeds, I think.

Nah. THAT can't be it. LOL.

Der Garten said...

Und ich dachte nur uns geht es mit Katzen-Namen so...
Der Kater meiner Mutter wurde ziemlich früh liebevoll als "Klein-Katze" bezeichnet und war mit 5 Jahren ein ganz schöner Brummer. Unsere dunklere Russisch Blau, die ohnehin aus einem nicht ganz "sauberen Wurf" kommt (einer ihrer Brüder hat halblanges Fell), wog nach 12 Wochen gerade 1Kg, so dass sie, als sie zu uns kam mit "tschüss Kleine Maus" ihr erstes Zuhause verlies und den Namen mitnahm. Nach einem Jahr war sie wohl noch nicht ausgewachsen, aber wir ließen sie halt nach der 1. Rolligkeit kastrieren. Im Nachhinein wohl zu früh - jetzt nennen wir sie manchmal "Moppel-Maus" und die Tierarzt-Helferin bezeichnet sie als Kartäuser!
Wir freuen uns auf weitere "blaue Fotos".
Silke & Wolfgang

Ali said...

Oooh, I love that box! I will keep my eyes peeled for something similar. I love your kitties! Cats rule, dogs drool :-) Thanks for stopping by my blog so I'd find yours, I'll visit again!

Ali

Boxwood Cottage said...

Oh I want such a cupboard for my seeds, it's wonderful!

pmo3ws(Kathy) said...

I love your seedbox! I like the fact that you can see through the top. Got to find me one like that or even make something like it. Thanks for sharing it!
Kathy
PS- Love your blog!