From the Vine
  • I've moved to craiglehoullier.com

How I keep track of my seed collection - "family tree" concept

8/22/2010

0 Comments

 
A long time ago, I decided that the best way to be able to track any surprises I get when I grow out my saved seed is to aim for good record keeping, from which I could build a family tree, if desired, for each variety that I maintain.  


Some of the varieties I grow most often, and are most treasured, are kept in a sort of family tree file.  I confess that it is not always up to date, but it can easily be updated from my annual growing logs and my seed collection file.


Here is an example:  


For Cherokee Chocolate, the variety appeared in 1995 when growing out Cherokee Purple that was saved in 1991.  (In 1991, my saved Cherokee Purple was put in vial number 27 - my code therefore is 91-27).  The seed from the chocolate colored tomato was stored in vial 47 - so the "parent" of Cherokee Chocolate is 95-47.


I grew out a few plants in 1996 - two out of three produced the chocolate colored tomatoes, the other purple.  Seeds from one of the chocolate colored fruit were saved in vial number 3 - so the code is 96-3.  I actually went back to that vial in 2007, and seed from the chocolate fruit from that plant were stored in vial 11 - so the code is 07-11 for my Cherokee Chocolate that year.


So between 1995, when Cherokee Chocolate first appeared in my garden, and this year, I have Cherokee Chocolate seed saved with about 30 different codes that point to the year I grew the tomato that produced the seed and the vial number. 


Just as an aside - and a topic for another blog entry - I sent out some of the 1996 saved seed (not sure if it was vial 96-3 or 96-9) to Darrell Merrill (a great SSE member who is, sadly, no longer with us) in Oklahoma.  Darrell grew it out and returned fresh seed to me.  In 1997, one of the plants that came from the seed he sent was the start of the Cherokee Green line!  But that's another story...

Below is what my Cherokee Chocolate page looks like (it's not very pretty, but it is useful to me!)
 
Picture
0 Comments

    Links

    • Seedlings Sewn
    • Tomatopalooza 2012 
    • Victory Seeds
    • The Year Round Veggie Gardener 
    • Seed Savers Exchange
    • Straw Bale Gardening
    • Dave's Garden
    • Tomatoville
    • Selected Plants
    • Tomato Growers Supply Company
    • Johnny's Selected Seeds
    • Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
    • Sandhill Preservation

    Archives

    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    October 2009
    September 2009

    Categories

    All
    2010 Events
    2011 Garden Update
    2011 Season
    2011 Tomato Harvest
    2014 Season
    Beets
    Black Cherry
    Bleaching
    Caging
    Canning
    Chard
    Cherokee Chocolate
    Comparing
    Container Gardening
    Cooking
    Cooking School
    Craig's Tomato Creations
    Dad
    Daily Stuff
    Daniel Stowe Garden
    Desert Island Tomatoes
    Dwarf Project
    Dwarf Sweet Sue
    Dwarf Tomato Project
    Eggplant
    End Of 2010 Report
    Event
    Favorites For 2009
    Fertilizing
    Flowers
    Garden Issues
    Garden Lessons
    Garden Progress
    Garden Tasks
    Garden Update
    Germinating Seeds
    Germination
    Greens
    Grow Bags
    Growing Medium
    Harvest
    Helping Friends
    Herbs
    History
    Hot Peppers
    Hybrid
    Indeterminate Tomatoes
    Kayaking
    Kitchen Renovation
    Lettuce
    Library
    Lillians Yellow
    Little Lucky
    Lucky Cross
    Monticello
    News
    Newspaper Article
    Office
    On The Radio
    Ornamental Hot Peppers
    Peppers
    Pictures
    Pots
    Recipe
    Recipes
    Robins Nest B&B
    Sara
    Sara's Book
    Seed Family Trees
    Seedlings
    Seed Saving
    Shannons
    Southern Season
    Sse
    Staking
    Suckering
    Sungold
    Sunset Beach
    Sweet Peppers
    Tomato Culture Q&A
    Tomato Culture Videos 2011
    Tomato Dinner
    Tomatoes
    Tomato Histories
    Tomatopalooza 2010
    Tomatopalooza 2010 Videos
    Tomatopalooza 2011
    Tomatopalooza 9 2011
    Tomato Tasting
    Topping
    Transplanting
    Tshirts
    Varieties Grown In 2010
    Video Updates 2010
    Video Updates 2011
    Watering
    Zely And Ritz

    RSS Feed