Long term survival. Which seeds?

Tballetta

Tballetta

Joined
Jul 22, 2006
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In a long term survival scenario which seeds would be the best to take along and start a food garden.

Which ones are the hardiest, fastest growing, most versatile, highest nutrition content, and can be grown in the widest variety of conditions.

A vegetable garden BOB if you will.
 
it depends on your area, how well you are going to be able to maintain your garden by only using natural fertilizers and the soil in your environment. Potatoes, carrots, onions and other tuberous veggies aren't picky-if you give them some kind of muck to grow in, occasional water and sunlight, they will grow
 
Potatoes are a good bet- they provide essentially everything you need except Vitamin A. Might be problematic to store in a BOB though, as they will start to sprout on their own.
 
halo2 said:
Heirloom seeds specific to your growing zone and region.
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Frostyfingers said:
+1 :thumbup: That's what I've always heard they keep in seed banks.
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we have a WINNER !!

Unmolested and purest by all means.. longevity is the key, your scenario places you in a live your life till you die in the rough.. another concern at this point and the most important is how will you protect your garden?
 
forestnomad said:
Potatoes are a good bet- they provide essentially everything you need except Vitamin A. Might be problematic to store in a BOB though, as they will start to sprout on their own.
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Potatoes are my favorite, and I eat a lot of them now. They are Extremely Productive for a
given area, But they are Vulnerable to a variety of Diseases. I am not just talking about the
Irish Potato Famine, but more recent crop failures in Europe in the WW II era. Also, I
saw a 1 hour special on public TV and they are always on the verge of crop failure.
Potato farmers are very watchful and are ready with chemicals.

Pro:
root crop, efficient to grow, everyone likes them, people with intestinal problems
sometimes need a bland starchy vegetable. A large variety may limit total crop failure.
Con:
subject to total crop failure, cannot use real seed (see below).

A guy on the internet collects real seed for two reasons 1) he wants to re-establish viability
of real seed 2)he wants more variety for more disease resistant strains.
(Planting potatoes or pieces thereof is just cloning: no diversity (= disease will kill all).
 
PayetteRucker said:
it depends on your area, how well you are going to be able to maintain your garden by only using natural fertilizers and the soil in your environment. Potatoes, carrots, onions and other tuberous veggies aren't picky-if you give them some kind of muck to grow in, occasional water and sunlight, they will grow
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Agree.
Root Crops are less vulnerable to attack from animals or humans.
They do not grow too high, so you can see over them and past them.

Turnips and beets have not been mentioned; you can eat the greens and root.

There is a lot on Youtube on survival gardening. Mostly they(he) make sense to me, e.g.
they recommend against corn because it draws attention, offers concealment etc.
They recommend against tomatoes because they draw attention; I would have tomatoes
anyway, because they are good to eat and other activities, worn trails, and shelters draw
just as much attention.

Some squashes keep for a very long time in a cool climate.

I would try growing cabbage and making sour kraut.
 
tomatoes grow pretty quick.
sunflowers. eat the seeds, make sunflower seed butter. (great protein)
pumkins, potatoes, carrots and onions. grow almost anywhere.
 
Northern Lights or Purple Haze. For morale boosting...

Kidding, hate to be like this, but it really depends on where you plan on surviving. Check what plants agree with your climate and soil type.
 
Along with a regular garden, i would also become familiar with wild edibles like cattails and nut trees so they can be utilized as well.
 
Bumppo said:
Along with a regular garden, i would also become familiar with wild edibles like cattails and nut trees so they can be utilized as well.
Click to expand...

The secret garden, hidden in plain sight! Learn local edibles by season. Beats planting, weeding, watering and tending, though gardening is still important, IMO.
 
I'm with Halo2 in recommending heirloom seeds.

For long-term self-sufficiency you'd want to make sure you had seeds that would produce plants that you could save useful seed from. Evidently the seed from some hybrid plants will not grow 'true' to original. I've even heard a whisper that some hybrid seeds will give rise to plants which don't produce usable seed at all..... and that while this may be an innocent byproduct of the quest to produce tasty food, it could also be a method used by big companies to control seed supply.

So I'd be learning about saving seed. Chances are there will be enthusiastic gardeners nearby who have been saving seed of 'family' plants and growing the same line year after year.... probably saving the seed from the plants that are the most successful.
 
Something my grandfather passed to me. Learn how to save seeds from this year's garden to plant next year. Corn, beans, peas, okra, squash, cucumbers, gourds, and tomatoes can be raised and their seeds preserved to plant next.

The seed store may not be open someday. Learning to preserve seeds is just as important as which kind.
 
for seeds lets assume is th STHF you can actually go outside.....or have sun at all....

my vote...heirlooms like others have said.
 
I suggest the Three Sisters. If it is good enough for an indiginous population in North America living the life of survival and actually thriving,then it should be good enough for today. Corn, Beans and Squash.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Sisters_(agriculture)

the advice above seems all good too. Heirloom seeds and all.

Have fun building up or survival stuffs.:)
 
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