The TYPE of seeds to grow, very important

I have seen "survival seeds" offers on the internet that are in sealed cans. The seeds consist of vegetables, of course, but mostly light ones such as tomatoes, lettuce, and carrots, maybe a little bit of corn and beans.

Now my big point is this: YOU NEED CALORIES, and protein too. Those light veges are not going to power your muscles when you are working extra hard to survive: building, hunting, and digging your garden, and God knows what else.

Vegetables that have calories in them:

POTATOES: usually easy to grow, even in pots, buckets, tires, or trash bags; and huge harvests too. Potatoes are easily propagated by growing the eyes; you can get them from the local market, as long as the eyes sprout

CORN: will have to hunt down non-hybrid seed, and especially non-GMO seed...won't be as delicious as hybrid sweet corn, but will be fuel to live on

SUNFLOWER SEEDS: great source of calories as good oil and protein; can grow the raw, in-the-shell seeds from a health food store

BEANS: a must-have for protein; I am guessing many beans right from the store will grow fine (as long as they sprout)

YAMS: very good calorie source, vitamin A too; these too as store-bought will usually sprout eyes, but take a long time I have been told

So please remember not to get just seeds for low calorie vegetables!

It should be noted that if you are going to be growing corn and will be saving seeds you will have to take steps to prevent cross pollination. Corn is wind pollinated and those silky hairs that dry up when the corn is ready can pick up pollen from miles and miles and miles and miles.... Anyway, it is getting to the point where it is nearly impossible to grow corn without having some degree of unwanted pollination. So if you want to grow the same stuff twice you need to follow the instructions in this website I found on a search engine.

How to bag corn

reply to post by brygivrob


I understand what you are advising, but the smart alec in me needed to point out that I don't think you even listed one actual vegetable, lol.

Best,
SN

reply to post by brygivrob


Very good and practical post. Thanks!

Also, if you have land, a fruit tree (apples are hardy) when you have too many you can can them, cook & freeze them and barter / trade with them.

If you live in a warmer climate (I don't ) you could have pistachio trees, nuts are good).

Pine nuts are also very healthy, saw this video the other day and this post www.youtube.com...

Frank Cook's video's are interesting and he shows you what is out there in the wild that is edible.

reply to post by brygivrob


Very good point indeed... Basically its best if you can grow a little of everything (depending on the situation)

Leafy greens, fruit, corn, Legumes, root veg and tubers.

That should give you all the vitamins, iron etc...

Protein can be obtained from meat and fish.


But one important thing that most people overlook...

DO NOT BUY HYBRIDS!!!

If you are buying seeds for a survival situation there is no point in buying seeds that will only give you one season of food followed by sterile seeds. Avoid any packets that have “F1” on them!!

You need natural seeds, that you can collect more seeds from, and countinue growing season after season...

Also... try and by a mixture of seasonal seeds... Most people think that the growing season is March to September but i grow hardy peas, cabbage and kale through winter... if you can get the balance right then you will have fresh veg throughout the year!

Very good post thanks, I have potatoes growing like crazy! the havist is always really good and any that I don't use can be just left and they will usually grow more. Plus the potato is quite easy to prepare. however it would need to be cooked could be a problem in quite a few situations.

I think Wheat should be a priority as well. It's not difficult to stone grind and make into bread it's easy to start a mixture in the open air and cultivate a yeast starter mixture I saw this on Modern Marvels. Bread is very filling and nutritional when whole grain wheat is used. Also beer can be made with it which would be a useful bartering toolAs for veggie, brocccoli and cauliflour and leafy greens like mustard and collard are packed with essential vitamins and are quite hardy, they are super foods.

reply to post by brygivrob


Great topic. I did a little research and found that the key word for survival gardening is "Heirloom Seeds" from non-GMO plants, closer to what nature provided and early settlers developed. A higher percentage of the seeds of mature harvest plants can be re-planted the next year. Not so with many of the regular packaged seeds easily purchased. Heirloom also means other things such as survivability in your particular area i.e. not all Heirloom seeds are good for all areas. The sealed canister I purchased had a lot of legumes and squash, so some calories there. But you are right about needing more calories. The Native American tradition of "Three Sisters" is good to know, the old story of throwing a fish under the corn etc.
Wikipedia Link

Originally posted by 1SawSomeThings
reply to post by brygivrob

 

Great topic. I did a little research and found that the key word for survival gardening is "Heirloom Seeds" from non-GMO plants, closer to what nature provided and early settlers developed. A higher percentage of the seeds of mature harvest plants can be re-planted the next year. Not so with many of the regular packaged seeds easily purchased. Heirloom also means other things such as survivability in your particular area i.e. not all Heirloom seeds are good for all areas. The sealed canister I purchased had a lot of legumes and squash, so some calories there. But you are right about needing more calories. The Native American tradition of "Three Sisters" is good to know, the old story of throwing a fish under the corn etc.
Wikipedia Link

Wow pretty cool find! I am going to try that... Thanks for the info.
Next line

Originally posted by 1SawSomeThings
reply to post by brygivrob

 

Great topic. I did a little research and found that the key word for survival gardening is "Heirloom Seeds" from non-GMO plants, closer to what nature provided and early settlers developed. A higher percentage of the seeds of mature harvest plants can be re-planted the next year. Not so with many of the regular packaged seeds easily purchased. Heirloom also means other things such as survivability in your particular area i.e. not all Heirloom seeds are good for all areas. The sealed canister I purchased had a lot of legumes and squash, so some calories there. But you are right about needing more calories. The Native American tradition of "Three Sisters" is good to know, the old story of throwing a fish under the corn etc.
Wikipedia Link

Wow pretty cool find! I am going to try that... Thanks for the info.
Next line

POTATOES: usually easy to grow, even in pots, buckets, tires, or trash bags; and huge harvests too. Potatoes are easily propagated by growing the eyes; you can get them from the local market, as long as the eyes sprout

yes in a shtf survival situation you can get potatoes at the local market

I looked into purchasing pre-assembled survival seed packages. The reason I ended putting my own seed collection together is that the packages are too area specific. My climate has a fairly short growing season and I wouldn't have been able to use about half of the seeds from the packages I found. Just be aware that you want seeds from plants that are used to growing in your local climate.

Oops. Too late to edit my first post:

I later realized that using the sunflower seeds from a health store, and beans from a supermarket, to grow, might be a mistake. They could still be hybrids and one would end up with who knows what? Perhaps an inedible alien plant (which is why growing hybrid seeds is a risk).

Also, to the person that yapped at me that they are not vegetables: okay, "fruits" then. Happy?

Don't forget the lowly peanut!

ETA there are potato seeds called zolushka. I see no reason why after starting from seed you couldn't save some small potatoes for the next growing season in the traditional way. Seeds to start off with originally though would ensure you are starting disease free, easier to store and should keep much longer than "seed potatoes".

[edit on 26-1-2010 by americanwoman]

Originally posted by 1SawSomeThings

Great topic. I did a little research and found that the key word for survival gardening is "Heirloom Seeds" from non-GMO plants, closer to what nature provided and early settlers developed. A higher percentage of the seeds of mature harvest plants can be re-planted the next year. Not so with many of the regular packaged seeds easily purchased. Heirloom also means other things such as survivability in your particular area i.e. not all Heirloom seeds are good for all areas. The sealed canister I purchased had a lot of legumes and squash, so some calories there. But you are right about needing more calories. The Native American tradition of "Three Sisters" is good to know, the old story of throwing a fish under the corn etc.
Wikipedia Link

The real keyword is open-pollinated. Heirloom typically refers to open-pollinated varieties that are also old. But there is really no set definition on how old.

Golden delicious apples are self pollinators. You only need one tree to grow more apples. I bought a bag of them from wallmart and dug out all the seeds. I had hundreds of them. I rolled up some paper towels and stuck them inside a drinking glass. I wedged the seeds between the glass and the towels so i could clearly see all the seeds. Then i filled the glass with an inch or so of water. Set it in a window ledge so it can get some sunlight. In a week you will see some sprouts. Separate the sprouts and plant them in little pots. Let them grow in your house as window plants for a year or so. When they start getting too big plant them in your yard. I have 14 baby trees growing right now. Im planting 4 in my yard and a few next to the forest by my house.

Nice thread S&F

I see no one has yet mentioned these lovely fruits like the Pumpkins

The first pumpkins are believed to have been grown before 5000 B.C. At an archaeological site in Mexico, recovered pumpkin seeds dated from 7000 to 5500 B.C. Summer Squash originated in Mexico and Central America and winter squash originated in Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador

They are very versatile fruits and the seeds (also known as pepitas) can be used as a snack. One gram of pumpkin seed protein contains as much tryptophan (an essential amino acid in the human diet) as a full glass of milk.
Pumpkin seeds are a good source of magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, and phytosterol.

The seeds are also a good source for pumpkin seed oil. When used for cooking or as a salad dressing, pumpkin-seed oil is generally mixed with other oils because of its robust flavor, although that is considered a delicacy in Austria. In some restaurants in Vienna they propose even to add a few drops on vanilla ice cream.
Pumpkin seed oil contains fatty acids that help maintain healthy blood vessels and nerves, and are loaded with essential fatty acids that help to maintain healthy blood vessels, nerves and tissues.

Also

East China Normal University research on type-1 diabetic rats, published in July 2007, suggests that chemical compounds found in pumpkin promote regeneration of damaged pancreatic cells, resulting in increased bloodstream insulin levels. According to the research team leader, pumpkin extract may be "a very good product for pre-diabetic people, as well as those who already have diabetes," possibly reducing or eliminating the need for insulin injections for some type-1 diabetics. It is unknown whether pumpkin extract has any effect on diabetes mellitus type 2, as it was not the subject of the study

Cheers,

HM

Originally posted by Darkice19
Golden delicious apples are self pollinators. You only need one tree to grow more apples. I bought a bag of them from wallmart and dug out all the seeds. I had hundreds of them.

Stop right there, Golden Delicious is a hybrid so out of those hundreds of seeds you will get zero (0) Golden Delicious apples. Apples do not pass stable genetics to the seeds therefore each and every seed you plant will have subtle differences. From completely bitter and inedible to the extremely rare sweet apple. It took thousands, and thousands, and thousands of tries over hundreds of years to find the 5 or so varieties that we are used to today. The rest are cider apples.

For you to get Golden Delicious apples you must take a cutting from a Golden Delicious apple tree and graft it onto another tree. So that means every Golden Delicious Apple you have ever eaten and that has ever been sold at the store has come from one, single, original tree. In fact the tree is from Clay County, West Virginia.


[edit on 27-1-2010 by beaverg]

[edit on 27-1-2010 by beaverg]

Originally posted by beaverg

Originally posted by Darkice19
Golden delicious apples are self pollinators. You only need one tree to grow more apples. I bought a bag of them from wallmart and dug out all the seeds. I had hundreds of them.

Stop right there, Golden Delicious is a hybrid so out of those hundreds of seeds you will get zero (0) Golden Delicious apples. Apples do not pass stable genetics to the seeds therefore each and every seed you plant will have subtle differences. From completely bitter and inedible to the extremely rare sweet apple. It took thousands, and thousands, and thousands of tries over hundreds of years to find the 5 or so varieties that we are used to today. The rest are cider apples.

For you to get Golden Delicious apples you must take a cutting from a Golden Delicious apple tree and graft it onto another tree. So that means every Golden Delicious Apple you have ever eaten and that has ever been sold at the store has come from one, single, original tree. In fact the tree is from Clay County, West Virginia.


[edit on 27-1-2010 by beaverg]

[edit on 27-1-2010 by beaverg]

Well this sux. I wonder what kind of apples i have growing then. Im going to keep growing them anyways. It will be a nice surprise to see if anything comes of the trees i have.

reply to post by Darkice19


It's a potluck honestly. You could be growing the sourest, bitterest apple you've ever tasted or you could have something that would grow out well. Fact is it's the only way to get new varieties and back in the day a tree producing sweet fruit meant great wealth to it's owner.

The story behind the Golden Delicious apple is that it was a stray seed. "A tree growing in the middle of a field." So while it won't be exactly the same it could still be worth your effort. Send me a PM if you subscribe to netflix, btw. I have a neat video on apples for you to watch.