Stockpiling seeds for shtf
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Lets say that the world goes to crap tomorrow. Some kind of long term SHTF situation has happened - plague, meteor, massive climate change,,,,, what does your SHTF seed stockpile look like this very second? If you walked to where your seeds are stored, pulled out the container, would you be happy, or disappointed?
I have decided to divide my seed stockpile between my home and my bug out location. With a variety of seeds stored in each location. One thing to take into consideration is pinto beans, which are high in protein. So if there is no meat, pinto beans can be eaten.
Some of my seed stocks:
Corn:
G-90 - Hybrid sweet corn
Truckers Favorite - Open pollinated field corn
Yellow Dent - Open pollinated field corn
Peas and Beans:
Roma II - snap bean
Texas purple hull pink eye
Mississippi purple hull pink eye
Purple hull pink eye BVR - the BVR stands for virus resistant. If you see some BVR peas, pick them up.
Contender bush bean
Blue lake bush bean
Pinto beans
I prefer bush beans over climbing beans - its just personal preference.
Squash:
Straight neck
Crook neck
Zucchini
Acorn
Couple of hybrids
Spinach:
Giant noble spinach
Radish:
Cherry Bell
Another type I can not remember the name of.
Be careful with radishes, there are several types out there that are hot, and some that are not hot. Radishes are an excellent seed to stockpile, as you can eat the whole plant, and it grows fast. At 15 days after planting, you should be able to pull up the sprouts and add them to a salad. Under ideal conditions, the plant should take 30 days to mature.
Various other seeds:
Bell pepper
Jalapeno pepper
Carrots
Lettuce
Cabbage
Broccoli
I have decided to divide my seed stockpile between my home and my bug out location. With a variety of seeds stored in each location. One thing to take into consideration is pinto beans, which are high in protein. So if there is no meat, pinto beans can be eaten.
Some of my seed stocks:
Corn:
G-90 - Hybrid sweet corn
Truckers Favorite - Open pollinated field corn
Yellow Dent - Open pollinated field corn
Peas and Beans:
Roma II - snap bean
Texas purple hull pink eye
Mississippi purple hull pink eye
Purple hull pink eye BVR - the BVR stands for virus resistant. If you see some BVR peas, pick them up.
Contender bush bean
Blue lake bush bean
Pinto beans
I prefer bush beans over climbing beans - its just personal preference.
Squash:
Straight neck
Crook neck
Zucchini
Acorn
Couple of hybrids
Spinach:
Giant noble spinach
Radish:
Cherry Bell
Another type I can not remember the name of.
Be careful with radishes, there are several types out there that are hot, and some that are not hot. Radishes are an excellent seed to stockpile, as you can eat the whole plant, and it grows fast. At 15 days after planting, you should be able to pull up the sprouts and add them to a salad. Under ideal conditions, the plant should take 30 days to mature.
Various other seeds:
Bell pepper
Jalapeno pepper
Carrots
Lettuce
Cabbage
Broccoli
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Yes I would be quite happy but have not finished yet. Am trying to get as many varieties of all different vegetables, herbs and flowers as possible. Have about two boxes the size of that large plastic one in your video and twice as deep (55 litres), mostly with vegetables.
I even keep seeds from any fruit that comes into my home ands have raised a couple of apple trees and a couple of pears from the seeds to see if they would come up and they did.
Am adding things like peanuts, coffee, stevia etc. just to make the varieties cover all different types of plants.
As I am planning (so far) to stay in they are all with me. The seed catalogues online and sent in the post (all heirloom companies) are great reading.
Don't know how long they will last but will have about 30 different varieties alone of tomatoes......
Have not finished yet. Far too many great varieties still not in my containers.
One problem out here my state will not allow corn seeds to come in from the states in the east but I can buy F1 hybrids in the stores...go figure !
I even keep seeds from any fruit that comes into my home ands have raised a couple of apple trees and a couple of pears from the seeds to see if they would come up and they did.
Am adding things like peanuts, coffee, stevia etc. just to make the varieties cover all different types of plants.
As I am planning (so far) to stay in they are all with me. The seed catalogues online and sent in the post (all heirloom companies) are great reading.
Don't know how long they will last but will have about 30 different varieties alone of tomatoes......
Have not finished yet. Far too many great varieties still not in my containers.
One problem out here my state will not allow corn seeds to come in from the states in the east but I can buy F1 hybrids in the stores...go figure !
I would fall well into the disappointed category. While I am the stockpiler of SHTF stuff -- I am not the gardener. The gardener doesn't do the preps.
I'll just go ahead and take care of that.
I did notice that you mentioned storing the "BOL" seeds in the freezer. Is this necessary and do you store that large container of "house" seeds in the freezer as well?
Excellent video as always. I really enjoy them and appreciate the effort and thought put into them. Where I'm from I'd take along that corn. Yes the wildlife will eat the corn -- consider it a food plot for growing meat rather than a plot for growing corn. I'll have to think about the broadleaf mustard and pinkeye peas -- hmmmm. Shoot I just grew my first crop of "dry" beans last year!
I'll just go ahead and take care of that.
I did notice that you mentioned storing the "BOL" seeds in the freezer. Is this necessary and do you store that large container of "house" seeds in the freezer as well?
Excellent video as always. I really enjoy them and appreciate the effort and thought put into them. Where I'm from I'd take along that corn. Yes the wildlife will eat the corn -- consider it a food plot for growing meat rather than a plot for growing corn. I'll have to think about the broadleaf mustard and pinkeye peas -- hmmmm. Shoot I just grew my first crop of "dry" beans last year!
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seeds for shtf
The large container in the video is stored in an upright deep freezer.
What I call the "bug out location" is a single wide trailer house in a rural area. Its a 3 bedroom 2 bath sitting on several acres of private property. We have a fridge / freezer that the seeds will be stored in.
The large container in the video is stored in an upright deep freezer.
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We got the well finished yesterday. We're just starting a small garden and will expand it as we get things going.
The first thing is I gota stop stepping on the plants.
:
We had piles of dirt everywhere from the well plumbing.
I don't have any seeds stocked yet. Where should I buy them?
The first thing is I gota stop stepping on the plants.
:We had piles of dirt everywhere from the well plumbing.
I don't have any seeds stocked yet. Where should I buy them?
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17,151 Posts
Walk into the local feed and fertilizer store and talk to them.
The place where I buy my seeds, one of the owners is a master gardener. I can walk in there, and get answers to just about any question I have. If I tell them I want a non-hybrid seed, they can tell me exactly which seeds they have the fit my needs.
The local people will be able to talk to you about soil conditions, pest, diseases,,, better then anyone else.
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"One thing to take into consideration is pinto beans, which are high in protein. So if there is no meat, pinto beans can be eaten." KEV
Black beans are suppose to be the best source of nutrients and fiber in the bean world.
Black beans are suppose to be the best source of nutrients and fiber in the bean world.
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I have really have gotten into the planting of radishes and the different varieties. Like Kev said, they grow so fast and you can eat the whole plant. I like the Snow Belle, it's an all-white type of radish, similar in shape to the Cherry Belle.
1# for me is greenbeans, easy to grow and can. For years I didn't eat them, damn childhood memories of eating them too much.
1# for me is greenbeans, easy to grow and can. For years I didn't eat them, damn childhood memories of eating them too much.
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One of the things about stockpiling more then 1 or 2 types of peas and beans - if their planted too close together they will cross pollinate.
Then, if you harvest the seeds from the plants that have cross pollinated, you will have a hybrid seed, which may or may not be viable next year.
Even if the hybrid seed is viable the second year, the saved seeds from the hybrid will probably not be viable.
Lets say that someone plants purple hull pink eye and Roma II next to each other and they cross pollinate.
Year 1 - same as parent.
Year 2 - hybrid plant, who knows what your going to get. May revert back to one of the parent plants.
Year 3 - seeds not viable, nothing grows. Or, the plant reverts back to one of the parents.
Then, if you harvest the seeds from the plants that have cross pollinated, you will have a hybrid seed, which may or may not be viable next year.
Even if the hybrid seed is viable the second year, the saved seeds from the hybrid will probably not be viable.
Lets say that someone plants purple hull pink eye and Roma II next to each other and they cross pollinate.
Year 1 - same as parent.
Year 2 - hybrid plant, who knows what your going to get. May revert back to one of the parent plants.
Year 3 - seeds not viable, nothing grows. Or, the plant reverts back to one of the parents.
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For long term seed saving - being able to save seeds every year, instead of buying new every year - I'd recommend "Seed to Seed" by Suzanne Ashworth. Don't know where I got the recommendation for that book (might have been here on SB), but it's one of the most important survival related books I currently own.
Before reading (some of) that book I had no idea that you had to let tomato seeds ferment before you stored them.
It covers literally, from seed to seed. How and when and where to plant. And then how and when and where to harvest the seeds from the plant you just grew from a seed.
Before reading (some of) that book I had no idea that you had to let tomato seeds ferment before you stored them.
It covers literally, from seed to seed. How and when and where to plant. And then how and when and where to harvest the seeds from the plant you just grew from a seed.
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For those wondering where to get heirloom vegetable seeds if unavailable locally. (I've noticed that Lowe's home improvement stores have some heirloom seeds and even tomato transplants for sale the past few years) Of course local feed stores as Kev mentioned are probably the best source.
http://www.victoryseeds.com/
http://www.southernexposure.com/
http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://rareseeds.com/
http://www.heirloomseeds.com/
http://www.seedforsecurity.com/
http://www.victoryseeds.com/
http://www.southernexposure.com/
http://www.seedsavers.org/
http://rareseeds.com/
http://www.heirloomseeds.com/
http://www.seedforsecurity.com/
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Hey Kev, I don't see any maters on that list of yours. If I couldn't grow maters then I would have to call it quits!
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I think I would be pretty happy right now if things went south. I am pretty light on grains though. I would want some wheat and barley seeds. I have some corn, but I would have to dedicate all I have to make enough seed to plant for the next year. That would be troublesome. Vegetable I have enough variety to make food appealing. I would have to dedicate half of my beans to making seed for the following year. I have enough beans in storage for eating. I think we would make it through the first year of a collapse, but if the crop failed the second or first year, we would be in mighty big trouble. I just planted most of my fruit trees and nut trees, only need the raspberries and blueberries to complete that part of the job, but I still won't get fruit for 3 years from now. That's a long time to wait when you're hungry.
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I have this book...it's great!
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I highly recommend keeping some mung bean seeds for growing or sprouting. They are very easy to grow, produce a lot (almost 50:1 for me), and are easy to harvest.
Also, seeds + dirt do not make a garden. Practice your gardening skills. Keep seeds that grow well where you are, or are planning to be.
Also, seeds + dirt do not make a garden. Practice your gardening skills. Keep seeds that grow well where you are, or are planning to be.
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