Preserving seeds

Although I am convinced that we're at the brink of a major event that could have catastrophic consequences for our food supply, we lack the space to store massive amounts of food. Therefore, we're looking into preparing ourselves minimally. I would like to start off creating a seed bank. However, I have no clue how seeds can be best preserved for at least a year of 2-3. Any ideas?

Here's a great site with full instructions on how to grow, harvest and store seeds.
www.veganseeds.com

As far as I know, seeds stay good for years as long as they are kept in a dark/cool environment.

reply to post by Mdv2


and start looking into vertical gardening.
Lots of vegetables in a little space. I already started and its going well!!

www.lushe.com.au...

Originally posted by raiders247
Here's a great site with full instructions on how to grow, harvest and store seeds.
www.veganseeds.com

As far as I know, seeds stay good for years as long as they are kept in a dark/cool environment.

edit on 5/1/2011 by raiders247 because: (no reason given)

That'll do it. An airtight box in the fridge, low humidity is important, I usually put some silica gel sachets in with mine just to be on the safe side, alternatively, you could bury them in shady spot if you haven't got space in the fridge.

I like to use brown paper bags instead of plastic to store seeds. Plastic can collect moisture and cause them to sprout too early or mold will mess them up. I find just the brown bags and putting them in a closet works good. Also if you get seeds from fresh vegetables, make sure they are dry before storing. I just put them on a paper towel and either gently scrap off when they're dry or just put the towel in the bag.

reply to post by Mdv2


First make sure the 'mother' plant that you are harvesting seeds from are heirloom and not of a GMO variety, this will ensure healthy seed stock and will greatly increase your chances of germination in the following years of planting.

There are a lot of sites on the web that have good information on this and I'll list some of them below. But here is a little story for you on just how long some seeds can be viable when stored in the proper conditions:

A neighbor of my father brought him a bag of butter beans 2 years ago. These beans had been given to him by my grandmother. Now she's been dead now for about 25 years, and a good 3 years prior to her passing she had not been well enough to have a garden, so at the very least it puts these beans at about 28 years old. This neighbor had found these beans in a nice cool, dark, dry corner of their root celler under their house. My father did not hold much hope of getting anything out of them but he planted them just the same, more out of courtesy to the neighbor than anything. Lo and behold he did get a crop from those beans!! Not enough to eat, but enough to get a good harvest to dry and try those the following year. He planted the beans from the previous year with amazing results. Long story short.... he and I both now have beans from seed that was at least 28 years old and by all accounts they are doing amazingly well...taste good too!!

Seed saving sites:
Seed Saving Handbook

seedsave.org

Giving Seeds What They Need in Storage

Seed Storage Tips

Hope this helps you some and good luck with your seed saving endevors!

reply to post by maybee


I used this method last year with tomato seeds and it just worked perfectly! Used 4 different varieties of tomatoes that I purchaed at the local farmers market (heirlooms) since I had just recently moved and did not have a garden last year. Now I've got a nice little crop coming up that will soon be transplanted out in the garden!

Thanks for the info, all of you. It's really appreciated.

reply to post by Mdv2


Very useful info. Thanks!

2nd

Remember also that storing seeds without having a few months of food stored also will do you little good.

If TSHTF then you can't go without eating while waiting for crops to grow. You need at least enough food to get you through till harvest.

Depending on the season everything goes to hell you may have a longer wait till your crops are ready to harvest.

Say something happens in Oct. or Nov. , You have to wait for spring to even plant crops on top of waiting for them to grow.

Even if you get lucky and an event happens in the spring, it will be weeks before you have food.

I also stock a huge amount of "heritage seeds" but I have close to 2 years supply of food also.

I recommend a minimum of 6 months of food stores + seeds

reply to post by Mdv2

There's a few things that come to mind.. one is experience with cultivation / gardening. Another is do it Organic. Nature works, understanding and comprehending how it works is very valuable. One thing about seeds / plants.. cuttings... they all have relative shelf-lives.

Learn ( you or a friend / wife etc ) all about gardening and horticulture.. and again "Organic"... as in how Nature and each plant "works".... If you already have an area you can "move" to in case of events.. or are in such an area already, you can have many different plants growing in the wild. Herbs would be easy... Pumpkins.. etc... But learn about how each behaves.... as mixing pumpkins in an area... close to each other will mix them.... Pumpkins prefer to be isolated... so choose well, both area and items...

Much can be started now....

Originally posted by maybee
I like to use brown paper bags instead of plastic to store seeds. Plastic can collect moisture and cause them to sprout too early or mold will mess them up. I find just the brown bags and putting them in a closet works good. Also if you get seeds from fresh vegetables, make sure they are dry before storing. I just put them on a paper towel and either gently scrap off when they're dry or just put the towel in the bag.

Maybee has brilliant advice... try to keep things "natural" as in no plastic.. no aluminum etc and except for the "paper towel" idea ( because of dioxins ) Maybee gave excellent advice.

Basically... ah... Welcome to The Green Thumb Preservation Society !!!!!

Thank you so much for the links, will be looking into this as I got heritage organic seeds and want to start saving my own too. Great information.