takeing seed with you?

I was thinking and never seen a thread on this subject.

things I would like to discuss.

1. long term preservation of seed.
2. what would you bring?
3. is it practical?

I was thinking for any long term survival plans would it be a bad idea to bring seed along. sure nature provides well. I even have a book in my ready bag called "The Wild Food Trailguide" it lists all edible plants in north America and breaks them down by regions. but say you found a safe spot and planed to stay for a while.

I already have certain seeds packed, an am trying to find useful seeds, make sure thoe that they will be able to grow in your climate....

if You take meds, You can often find plants that act like that med u take, since most meds are produced from plants anyways....

seeds need to be in a dry, an in a temp zone not to cause other undesired effects.

an LABEL LABEL LABEL!!!!!!

reply to post by DaleGribble
Nice thread!

Preservation of seed is pretty simple really. Keep them dry and they will tend to last a while (even longer if kept cold, but that's a bit harder to do). There are a few crops, like potatoes, that don't keep well in dry heat, but potatoes also can grow from seeds. It's harder to get them started, but in a pinch, it could be done to regain the crops if no tubers were available.

What would I bring? Corn, potatoes, a few varieties of beans, black-eyed peas, and english peas would be a good start. That would supply the bulk of a diet. Now add to that squash, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, a few cantaloupe and some watermelon (simply because I love watermelon ). Spices would be needed as well. Oh, and we can't forget the cabbage, lettuce, spinach, turnips, radishes, kale, collards, and all those other wonderful things that grow in the salad patch.

Is it practical? That would depend on the situation. Lugging 50 pounds of seed while you run for your life wouldn't be my idea of a fun weekend. I'd say maybe some sort of seed storehouse that could be accessed when needed. A small underground box would be plenty sufficient. After all, seeds are lightweight and small, as well as inexpensive (especially when you grow them yourself). A person could place a dozen of these boxes in different places and retrieve them when things had eased up.

Come to think of it, that's a heck of an idea! I think I'll start working on this as a fallback seed supply for the future. Can't hurt, we waste enough seeds every year to get a few boxes packed away. Starred and flagged!

TheRedneck

this is off-topic, but seeing the words seed and survival makes me think of something.
If you live in Southern California, there is a bush that grows there, wild, called chia as in chia pets fame.
At a certain time of year, the pods dry up and partially open and you can shake the seeds out of them and eat them.

when the time comes and we have to head for the hills ditch you car and trade them in for a couple of horses as horses dont need gasoline and in the mean time get someone to make you a plow cause your going to need it, just a small one that you use the two horses
to help you, makes life easy especially if your going to plant a lot of veges.

and another thing thats very useful is a large piece of netting to stop the ground animals and birds eating your crops and find your self a spot of high ground not to far away from a stream thats downstream from a waterfall that way you can channel water directly to your crops and this trick will save you having to waste energy carrying water to your crops.

edit: oh another thing go to you video store and buy a series called frontier house filmed in Montana in 2002 it give you hints on how to survive in the woods a bit easier and they show the plow i mentioned above

[edit on 12-7-2008 by ST SIR 86]

edit

dubble post.

[edit on 15pmu32007 by DaleGribble]

reply to post by TheRedneck


very good point you bring up. i have yet to do this it has just been a thought so far. however it is something i plan to do.

as you mentioned seeds are small and light weight. im not talking 50lbs of seed to sustain a small army. im talking just enough for you and yours.

i also see seed as a bartering tool. as you grow more crop, you will have more seed.

reply to post by Trance Optic


just two questions(if you dont mind):

1. what type of seed do you carry?

2. what do you store them in?


reply to post by ST SIR 86



a plow would be useful in large scale farming. however i am speaking of a small yeild crop. that could be managed with hand made tools and a little work. the net however would be a great idea..

reply to post by jmdewey60


there are many such plants spread through out north america. and this is one way to get seed and sustain a crop.

i suggest to all intrested in "sit x" to obtain a book that lists these. i have a few. and if you want suggestions u2u me as i do not wish to come off as and ad for these books...

reply to post by DaleGribble

im not talking 50lbs of seed to sustain a small army. im talking just enough for you and yours.

Nice of you to think of me and mine. J/K

Seriously, I just pulled the 50 pounds thing out of the top of my head. You do need more than enough for one planting though, to allow for fires, natural flooding, or drought should it hit the first crop. You want enough for 2-3 plantings to make sure you can at least grow more seed.

Good idea about the bartering tool, too. Seeds, especially those which are in short supply and produce a tasty crop, would be worth the weight of the produce in gold in a disaster recovery situation.

TheRedneck

Good thread Dale.

Since we've chosen to make our stand here, come what may or may not, our notion of bugging out is only in relation to something that would drive us from the house into a cave, such as: hurricane, tsunami, bright flash on the horizon, inbound comet/spacejunk, invasion, poleshift, attack of killer frogs, etc.

After Hurricane Ivan passed by here, I was unpacking the grab-and-go packs, and was surprised to find 75 seed packets, rubber banded and in two ziplock bags. I have no memory of putting these in. Ivan missed this island, thankfully, and regretfully hit the big island resulting in millions of dollars of property damage. I guess somewhere in my scrambling around, I thought we might be coming home to a slab. So now, I keep a supply of open-pollinated seeds always. They are hard to get here, as most companies won't export, so I have to have them sent to relatives, who send them to me. They are stored in a plastic bag with dessicant packs in our BOB. I have another order coming soon (I hope).

reply to post by TheRedneck


well put redneck. it would be a very good idea to bring enough seed to insure a viable crop.
also in you had to leave in a hurry, to me, my crop would not be the highest thing on the priority list..



reply to post by argentus



that is odd about you finding the seed. who ever put it there had the right idea in mind..

allow me to pose another question.

what are the most veritile crops?

what i mean by that is a crop that will grow in most north american climates. although i am intrested in what Europeian and other countries think of this also.

im just focusing on NA cause thats where i live and thats the most likly place im going to be when i bug out.

here are some cool sites that provide several useful items, when it comes to "bugging out"


www.pecad.fas.usda.gov...

check the additional resources link and click on CRD crop production map.


[edit on 15pmu62007 by DaleGribble]

reply to post by DaleGribble


If I could only take a few seed packs, they would likely be small plum or cherry tomatoes (quick, high yield) and beans (ditto). A vitamin C source become quickly important, if things change rapidly. When I was a kid, the Native Americans that we lived near did some companion planting -- creating a mound of fertilized soil, planting corn somewhat in the middle, with beans closeby to use the corn as travelers, and squash a bit further back, with the vines trained to stay within the mound area.

I keep green onions, couple of tomato varieties, couple of bean varieties, couple of squash, eggplant, couple of peppers, corn, cukes, several melons, New Zealand spinach.

I also usually have a seed pack of marigolds also, as they are good deterrants for many bugs, (ditto for chysanthemum) and marigolds don't require a whole lot of water. Mini-trivia alert: chrystanthemum flowers are used to make a very effective pest control compound -- cypermethrin.

Probably a good idea to learn to identify local fungii in your area also. Many are naturally occurring, and could be the difference between having your belly filled or not. Naturally, you'd want to be SURE that the fungi you are contemplating munchng is safe.

after much thought into this subject. and some ideas from another thread, i have added poppy seeds to my ready bag. as in the case of SITX pain medication will be a real need and not a bad thing to have around.

Just to let you know it is perfetly legal in the us to buy and grow Papaver somniferum in the US. if you want to know where to buy them there are many web sites. I purchased my from the local farmers market. they are fairly priced and easy to grow. good luck with your sitx food plots all.

i currently am not growing any as i am saveing my seeds for only such a situation.

I feel you can't have too many seeds.

But you will want to keep in mind that you will probably want to save seeds from your crops. To do this, you will want to stick to a single variety of each vegetable. Don't want to have a bunch of cross pollination.

Just a thought - I really don't know much about the whole seed issue...

Arn't a lot of now genetically modified or something - or dosed with radiation so that they only yield one crop? I mean you can't go collecting the seeds for the next crop... Just something I remember reading in other threads.

I plant seed every year which i buy, however i also store some seed. The way i store it is in a thick plastic box with each set of seeds in acid free, paper envelopes. I've found that storing it in this way, in an area that has a roughly constant temperature means they often last around 5 years.

However some seeds store better than others. I've found carrot seeds store quite well. Legumes store well also although i've noticed a drop of in germination after 3 years. Lettuce, cabbage, parsnip, turnip, tomato and others easily store 5 years.

Some of the seeds that seem to last the longest are tree seeds, apples, pears, cherries etc. This would make sense as they're tougher seeds with thick shells.

One thing i should say is try not to use metal tins to store them in. I found out that after two years in a metal tin the seeds greatly reduced in their germination rate. I would suggest this is because the temperature was most easily effected in a metal tin compared to a thick plastic one.

EDIT

About beans, i like to try and find the climbing beans rather than the low spreading kind. Climbing beans seem to yield more and they take up far less space. Runner beans are one of my favorite.

[edit on 21-4-2009 by ImaginaryReality1984]

Originally posted by Now_Then
Just a thought - I really don't know much about the whole seed issue...

Arn't a lot of now genetically modified or something - or dosed with radiation so that they only yield one crop? I mean you can't go collecting the seeds for the next crop... Just something I remember reading in other threads.

yeah some varites are but whe you buy seeds there are many many diffrent kinds of seed for just one plant. when you purchase remember to get the right kind. it usually says on the back of the package.


TO EVERYONE: Remember that WATERMELON is one of the only fruits that you can eat and survive eating only that. it contains everything you need. and entire meal wrapped up in one fruit, and it contains plenty of water. you get nutrition and ample water in one shot. in a pinch it could prove very helpful. i have them in my ready bag. i also have a book that lists every ediable plant in the us what they are used for and their nutiritional values. also something great to bring along..

Edit:

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984


great point storage is just as important as having the seed, and knowing how to store them. always remember after each harvest to put away more seed and more than you plan to plant. if you have to leave your garden behind you want to make sure you have a back up...

[edit on 15amu92007 by DaleGribble]

Originally posted by DaleGribble
TO EVERYONE: Remember that WATERMELON is one of the only fruits that you can eat and survive eating only that. it contains everything you need. and entire meal wrapped up in one fruit, and it contains plenty of water. you get nutrition and ample water in one shot. in a pinch it could prove very helpful. i have them in my ready bag. i also have a book that lists every ediable plant in the us what they are used for and their nutiritional values. also something great to bring along..

Could you provide proof for this please because as far as i was aware, watermelon contains plenty of vitamin C but only minor quantities of other vitamins and minerals.

I have a large selection of non-hybrid seeds and not just for my climate zone. Since the weather is so unpredictable these days, the climate in my area may change radically so I have seeds that may not grow well here now but could be the only things that grow later. If not, they can be good barter items.

Amaranth is a very small seed and has a high yield. Very high in protein and you can carry a lot of it in a very small space.

I occasionally PLANT my seeds in areas along bug out routes. Most people can't identify them anyway so I figure they're pretty safe in the ground. If I have to leave with nothing I can munch plants along the way as well as gather seeds for later.

Last I checked (10 days ago) Heirloom seeds was so backordered that it would be months before they can fill your order. Seedrack is another good online source as is Rareplants.

National Audubon Society has a Field Guide to Wildflowers (by regions) which is useful because it lists plants by the color of their flowers. Makes narrowing down your identification process a lot quicker.

I keep my seeds in a styrofoam chest for moisture and temperature control.