The Seed Bank

② The Manifest

The parts list. Cores are what you actually need; “if you prefer” opens cheaper, local, or heritage swaps — never budget fallbacks, just other good ways.

③ The Sequence

1. 01Decide what you will save this yearat planting Pick open-pollinated / heirloom varieties (not hybrids if you want true seed). Prioritize what you actually eat and what is hard to buy. Note which crops are easy savers (bean, pea, tomato, lettuce) vs isolation-heavy (corn, squash, brassica, cucumber). Write the plan in the notebook before transplants go in.
2. 02Mark plants and manage isolationmid-season Flag the healthiest true-to-type plants with ribbon or stakes. Cull off-types before they flower if possible. For outcrossers, apply distance, bagging, or time isolation per crop. Never save from the only plant that survived disease if you cannot tell resistance from luck — save from a population when you can.
3. 03Harvest seed at true maturityat maturity Seed is ready when fruit is overripe (tomato, squash), pods dry and rattle (bean, pea), or heads shatter-ready (lettuce, brassica). Immature seed stores poorly. Harvest on a dry day when possible. Keep varieties in separate clean buckets or bags immediately.
4. 04Clean: wet process or dry process1–3 hr Dry crops: thresh, winnow, screen. Wet crops (tomato): ferment 1–3 days to remove gel, rinse, dry on screen. Cucumber similar. Never leave damp seed in a pile — mold ends the lot. Label every tray the moment seed hits it.
5. 05Dry to safe moisture3–14 days Thin layer, airflow, shade, cool room. Seeds should snap or shatter, not bend; fingernail should not dent easily. Finish with silica in a jar if humidity is high. Wet seed into storage is the most common failure mode shared with The Lineage — both rigs demand dry first.
6. 06Package and label the working library1–2 hr One variety per envelope; envelopes into jars by year or family; silica pack in jar. Label: variety, year, source, optional notes. Store working jars cool, dark, dry — pantry or closet, not above the stove. This is the Seed Bank shelf, not the freezer (that is Lineage).
7. 07Hand off best lots to The Lineage30–60 min Select the cleanest, best-labeled, fully dry lots of varieties you intend to keep for decades. Pass them to The Lineage sequence (deep freeze + records). Keep a working portion on the Seed Bank shelf for next season. Bidirectional Feed: Seed Bank → Lineage (fresh genetics); Lineage → Seed Bank (recovery when a working jar fails).
8. 08Inventory and germination test before spring1 hr annual List every working jar. Test older lots (10–20 seeds). Below ~70% germ, plant more densely, refresh from Lineage, or re-grow and re-save. Retire unlabeled mystery seed — it is not a bank, it is a gamble.
9. 09Plant next season from your own stockongoing Prefer your saved seed for the varieties you marked. Note in the log what performed. That feedback loop is how a household landrace begins — not in one heroic year, but in honest selection across seasons.
10. 10Share, trade, and stay humbleas needed Surplus packets can feed Trade and neighbors. Never share diseased material. When you receive seed, treat it as new stock: label source, quarantine if concerned, and do not dump unlabeled seed into the bank.

⑤ The Echo

⑥ Feeds

How this rig connects to the rest of the Ark.

• ← material Field Plot Year-over-year saved seed from best-performing plants. The Seed Bank is the active seasonal turnover — clean, dry, packet, label, store for next planting. Field Plot is the highest-volume seed contributor in the Grow domain.
• → material The Lineage Fresh, viable seed flows IN from The Seed Bank (Grow): each year's best-saved harvest feeds the long-term vault, and aging frozen lots are re-stocked from The Seed Bank's current-generation seed. This is the inbound half of the bidirectional pairing — Grow produces, The Lineage preserves.
• ← material The Lineage Recovery seed flows OUT to The Seed Bank (Grow): when a variety is lost, fails, or runs out in the working year-to-year rig, The Lineage thaws the frozen backup and returns viable seed to be grown back into circulation. This is the outbound half of the pairing — the vault that lets a variety come back from the cold.
• → information The Lineage Variety provenance and grow-out records flow IN from The Seed Bank (Grow): germination history, isolation notes, off-types observed, and selection decisions made during the season become part of The Lineage's permanent variety log and breeding notebook.
• → information The Vigil The Seed Bank and the agricultural year feed the seasonal markers — first-harvest, last-frost, and planting times tie the wheel to what the land is actually doing.
• → material The Window Farm Saved seed stocks the Window Farm for next season without packet purchases.
• → material The Shelf Stack Saved seed stocks the Shelf Stack crop plan.
• → material Field Plot Saved field varieties return to the Field Plot.
• → material The Guild Ring Saved seed for guild understory and annuals in the Guild Ring.
• ← material The Window Farm Best Window Farm plants selected mid-season become Seed Bank candidates.