The excel sheets are almost a necessity.
I would say as your variety of tomatoes and peppers grow that a single Excel sheet with every vegetable may become unmanageable.
What people have found is that you really want all of this on a tomato-specific Excel sheet or tab:
- Variety Name
- Color
- PL or RL
- Fruit Shape/Type
- Year Seeds were Saved
- Last Year Grown
- Source (TGS, SSE, or someone's name)
Might sound like overkill but you never know when you'll want to refer back to who sent you seeds (in case of a cross), or whether seeds are particularly old.
I do NOT actually have a sheet like this myself as I had not quite reached the point that I needed it, but I was getting very close.
When I would get seeds from someone, I did write the year and name of the person who sent them on the back.