Survival Seed Bank

[Patti]

http://survivalseedbank.com/


These seeds are authentic strains which are NOT genetically modified in any way. When the going gets tough… you’ll only want this special type of seed which will produce not only outstanding nutritional plants but will allow you to plant the seeds from the plants you grow unlike sterile hybrids. Most seed companies are now selling only “terminator” seeds which have been genetically modified and will not reproduce themselves.

[Bumper]

It is important to have non-hybrid seeds for a SHTF garden. I bought some back in March for my wife who always plants as much of a garden as we can grow here. We decided to leave them in the original waterproof container they came in. The individual vacuum packed mylar packets. Some unusual varieties and some of the old standbys.....

[PointnClick]

Does anyone know if seeds from vegetables bought at the grocery store are viable, ie, if we buy a squash, will those seeds germinate...?

I live in the heart of tomato country.. I should try planting some seeds from our world-famous Ruskin tomatoes...

[Bumper]

Does anyone know if seeds from vegetables bought at the grocery store are viable, ie, if we buy a squash, will those seeds germinate...?

I live in the heart of tomato country.. I should try planting some seeds from our world-famous Ruskin tomatoes...

They may sprout, but just about everything you buy in a store is a hybrid. One of the reasons they develop hybrids is that the produce is more prolific and keeps better for shipping and warehousing. Some will sprout but the result will be unpredictable.

There is a run on seeds right now just like there is on ammunition, but normally it's not hard to find non-hybrid or "heirloom" vegetable seed.....

[ppkheat]

I agree with having some good quality seeds, but just buying some seeds doesn't end there.

The seeds are the first major key, and granted we'll assume they will be desperately needed in the future SHTF to produce sustainable foods. Certainly you'd want as many of your emergency seeds to successfully germinate as possible, so along with seeds, I'd think that you'd want to stock cheap potting soil and potting cups. Maybe some nice sandy soil and egg cartons would work in a pinch? Food production is important, life-altering at some point, so what about fertilizer too?

To get a jump on the growing season you might want to consider having some seeds that you'd pot and get started early as if you had a greenhouse, then transplant later to give yourself a head start.

How about soil/garden site prep? Once again you'd desire your garden to be as productive as possible. How will you prepare your soil? Garden tractor? Tiller? It's possible to make a decent garden site with a shovel and hoe, of course that can be a lot of work in proportion to your garden size plans.

Sevin dust, fertilizer, the ability to water it when necessary? Canning supplies? How about varmints? Rabbits, rats, raccoons, deer, birds, etc wiping you out, especially on young tender plants just coming up, then again at the time of harvest? Those varmints would certainly add meat to the pot (I've never cared for rat, but.......)and the garden may very well be a lure for you, but it would be disastrous to wake up one morning and realized your garden was wiped out and the "meat" is long gone too.

So I'd expect one would need to have ample deterrents in place (net wire, solar shocker) and/or add on the responsibility of guarding it diligently during the night. We can "hide" our prep food, but we can't very well hide the fact and exposure of a garden from all the varmints et al.

So, it just doesn't end with buying seeds, what are some other good companion items that you'd need to bolster your garden production?

BTW I'd consider getting a couple of 50 pound bags of "Sulfur" from your local feed store, if they don't have it they probably can order it. It's not that expensive. It's an old-timey insecticide, it is a irritant for mammals, rats hate it, and garden varmints would probably also.

[Bumper]

We have started our "garden plan" for Spring. I need to move a couple of sections of chain link fence to get a large garden spot enclosed. The fence is six foot high so we are going to raise it by adding a row of barbed wire and a solar fence charger. This area (enclosed by the fence) is about an acre in size and there is enough room to also plant our fruit and nut trees, grapes and some berry vines.

I have not been on much over the last couple of days as I have been acquiring the necessary equipment for my Allis Chalmers Model B to plow and cultivate the garden. I found a belly cultivator and a one share moldboard plow (also belly mounted) that was designed for this tractor. Since my larger tractor, and much newer, is down right now (it threw a rod right through the side of the block) I am shifting my focus to implements for my smaller and older tractor. While I am planning on getting the other tractor fixed, the old tractor is still better suited to do the gardening tasks.

We're not stocking fertilizers but the sulfur idea is a good one. I'm sure there is a lot of other things that would be nice to stock up on but there's not enough money to get everything we would like to put up. We'll do as they did in the early part of this century and just "make do" on the shortfalls....

[ppkheat]

I've seen those rod's too and IIRC most have been from too much ether or an undersized tractor trying to run a over-sized PTO gen.