# Next Years Seeds



## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

For those of you who do not save your garden seeds, or those who save some then buy some, have you considered what would happen if TSHTF before you normally buy seeds and what you normally plant is not available?

I have given this quite a bit of thought and although I normally have enough seeds on hand to plant the next years garden, it may wind up lacking in some areas. Because of this possibility, I have decided to keep several years seeds on hand(vacuum sealed and in the freezer).

Normally this would wind up being a considerable $$$ investment but having found a seed vendor that sells bulk seeds(excellent quality) at very reasonable prices, I can obtain them at less cost than I have been spending on a single years supply.

http://mvseeds.com/store/

For instance, on Genovese Basil Eden Brothers sells 1 pound normally for $44.00

Mountain Valley Seeds sells 1 pound for $13.60

I don't ever plant a full pound of Basil seeds but you can see the difference in prices and the difference is pretty much across the board.

It is not my goal to plug "Mountain Valley" in this post but I am suggesting that it is practical and maybe even advisable to stock up on seeds with this being an election year(with BoB possibly being elected to a second term), having the future in doubt because of the National Debt situation or any other of the scenario's you may be prepping for.

Just throwing this topic out for consideration. If I couldn't plant my garden it would drastically impact the dinner table at this house.


----------



## goatlady (Nov 7, 2011)

Absolutely an excellent idea to have at least 2 years worth of seeds put back just in case of a bad weather season or insect infestation both of which can totally wipe out a season's crop. Folks right now up in NY state are and have lost all of this year's hay crops to an invasion of army worms going from field to field eating the growing hay crop by the acre. No time left to grow another crop this year, so those folks are really going to be hurting this winter for hay for their animals over the winter. Situation like this are also a good reason to have enough food set by to compensate for crop failures of any cause.


----------



## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

My best advice to those just starting with seed saving.. buy or borrow from the library and copy out the parts for the plants you want this book... Seed To Seed by Susan Ashworth. I'm thinking about picking up a copy even tho I have most of it memorized, I've borrowed it that much.. 
It tells you how each garden plant forms seeds and how to save them and keep them pure(so you get the same thing year to year) and how to store them properly and most importantly---- how many years you can expect them to live in storage before you must plant and save new. 
If you were not in on the 30 year old survival seed grow out then read the threads in The Seed Project.
Survival nut bought a 30 something year old "survival seed vault" and many of us here on the forums volunteered to grow some out.. I couldn't get one plant to grow out of all the seed I was sent. some of the others had maybe one or two grow but not thrive.
There are many reasons for this happening.. and it is mostly the main reason that many heirloom/open pollinated only gardeners grow out some of their stock every year. They aren't meant to be stored forever. Some seeds will only be viable for one or if lucky two years after the year they are harvested. I try to grow them every year if I can. Some can be stored safely for quite some time and I only try to grow them out(if it is something I want to keep) every 5 years.
The oldest tomato seed I ever grew out was a packet of Homestead tomatoes(great tomato by the way) and it was before I started saving my own( which I mentally kick myself every time I think of them) and the packet came from 1968 stock(date on the packet so they were grown in 1967) I got two from the packet that was found in a drawer at a friends summer cabin. I grew them back in the middle 90's cuz my son was young then but I can't remember the exact year now. So that is almost 25 some years old.. I was lucky and didn't know that you shouldn't get them to grow after that long a time.
I like to grow the odd heirlooms normally and last year I had tons of tomatoes but they took forever to ripen and I ended up going and getting a few bushels to help round out my crop(pick u self $5 half bushel so not bad but in SHTF situ they won't be there) so this year I am falling back on an old standby called Rutgers which is more determinate and will set and ripen the bulk of the crop at the same time and is a good canner. I do have a few of my fancy tomatoes going.. Green gooseberry and yellow submarine and large red cherry and black cherry.. sure they are all small salad/cherry types but the grand kids eat them like candy and last year I didn't grow enuf.


----------



## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

2004-I found while rummaging around in my freezers packs of seeds we had tossed in there in a bread bag. geez.......anyway I put the seeds in my little sprouter and I got root. then to the little pots and I got plants. Now in the garden. Beets, corn, tomatoes.

Cut the suckers off of the tomato plants and stuck them in dirt in pots and they have rooted and now more tomato plants. Have tomato plants everywhere. Giving the things away.


----------



## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Freyadog said:


> 2004-I found while rummaging around in my freezers packs of seeds we had tossed in there in a bread bag. geez.......anyway I put the seeds in my little sprouter and I got root. then to the little pots and I got plants. Now in the garden. Beets, corn, tomatoes.
> 
> Cut the suckers off of the tomato plants and stuck them in dirt in pots and they have rooted and now more tomato plants. Have tomato plants everywhere. Giving the things away.


Way to go! some seeds love being frozen helps them break dormancy when they get thawed out.. like the blueberries you're working on.. if you really wanted you can take the seeds from frozen ones and sprout them.. frozen cranberries do well too. but they are super delicate and take lots of care.. I have fried two flats of each after taking such care to grow them..  all it took was one day in the sun with no water and Gone.. 

I've also done the sucker route and added to the garden.. but I have a much shorter season here than you do.. I had a cut worm cut down two of my green zebra's one year right after planting and I took them in and rooted them and still got tomatoes that year.. I was lucky it is a small tomato. the Bigger types I probably would have had to make green tomato ketchup or fried green tomatoes.


----------



## Immolatus (Feb 20, 2011)

Freyadog said:


> 2004-I found while rummaging around in my freezers packs of seeds we had tossed in there in a bread bag. geez.......anyway I put the seeds in my little sprouter and I got root. then to the little pots and I got plants. Now in the garden. Beets, corn, tomatoes.
> 
> Cut the suckers off of the tomato plants and stuck them in dirt in pots and they have rooted and now more tomato plants. Have tomato plants everywhere. Giving the things away.


I have tomatoes everywhere in my garden, I also gave at least 15 plants away, and I have more that are sprouting up everywhere they shouldnt be, and werent before. Well..maybe because if I got some that were overrips or whatever I would just randomly throw them about, mostly towards my neighbors fence, but oddly enough thos didnt grow. Oh, but in my patch, they are freakin everywhere. At least now I know I'll never buy tomatoes again. I didnt think to let them grow (I'll let one go) because they were going to take over. I'll let you know what happens to them. 
I also have peppers come back up, but maybe because I just didnt know they do.


----------



## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Saving seeds is one of the skills I think folks need to learn. (imho)

But hey ... what do I know. LOL


----------



## Possumfam (Apr 19, 2011)

I prefer to save my own if I can, still need to perfect it, though. Along a similar line, I'm trying to re-grow some vegetables. A few months ago, we cut the bottom off a stalk of celery, put it in a dish of water, it rooted, started growing, we transplanted it, and didn't tend to it. But we've learned a lesson, and now we know it can be done. With that in mind, I've got the root end of onions in a bowl of water and the root end of lettuce (possibly romain - I don't remember) and they are both growing. The onions have roots, the lettuce has leaves. Don'tcha know I wanna keep trying this with various vegetables. Don't know how well, or if it'll work, but we're gonna try. We've still got a pineapple top alive.....so....???


----------



## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Possumfam said:


> I prefer to save my own if I can, still need to perfect it, though. Along a similar line, I'm trying to re-grow some vegetables. A few months ago, we cut the bottom off a stalk of celery, put it in a dish of water, it rooted, started growing, we transplanted it, and didn't tend to it. But we've learned a lesson, and now we know it can be done. With that in mind, I've got the root end of onions in a bowl of water and the root end of lettuce (possibly romain - I don't remember) and they are both growing. The onions have roots, the lettuce has leaves. Don'tcha know I wanna keep trying this with various vegetables. Don't know how well, or if it'll work, but we're gonna try. We've still got a pineapple top alive.....so....???


I've found that the onions do better in dirt.. same with leeks.. I cut the bottoms off and put them right into the ground.. smaller ones pop all around the main root. I've grown pots of 'baby cut and come again" lettuces they do well. I've also potted up sprouting onions and used them as green onions by cutting the tops and slicing thin. Just the tops. 
Did you know that the basil that you buy bundles of fresh will root in water too!
but for your pineapple.. we got one to fruit one year(not since tho..) by letting it get big and then you take a big clear bag(not in the sun tho) and putting an apple next to the plant and cover it with the plastic bag.. the gas that apples give off will prompt the plant to fruit in about a month. but you have to keep it covered for that amount of time. We stared about a month and a half before the last frost so that it fruited outside all summer.. it was the tiniest pineapple ever! but ya know .. everyone got enfu for a couple bites.. 

Oh I didn't have luck with the celery.. mine sprouted good from the bottom end but it rotted on me.


----------



## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

I have tried the pineapple but always with the top only, no luck. is this what you did or did you use the whole plant? have also tried avocado but no luck. trying celery now. I have purple basil growing wild in my garden. most of my garden didn't grow this year. I don't know why, the weeds are doing great!  even my mint is not doing well. I have Brussels sprouts growing it is in my garden, its second year and now has sprouts. can I just pick the sprouts and leave the plant as a semi-permanent plant? green beans are doing well and have already picked dry seeds for keeping.


----------



## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

stayingthegame said:


> I have tried the pineapple but always with the top only, no luck. is this what you did or did you use the whole plant? have also tried avocado but no luck. trying celery now. I have purple basil growing wild in my garden. most of my garden didn't grow this year. I don't know why, the weeds are doing great!  even my mint is not doing well. I have Brussels sprouts growing it is in my garden, its second year and now has sprouts. can I just pick the sprouts and leave the plant as a semi-permanent plant? green beans are doing well and have already picked dry seeds for keeping.


We started the plant with the top of the pineapple.. I just pulled a few of the bottom leaves off and saw a few roots and just stuck it in some potting soil and watered well.. when the plant was a few years old it had filled the pot up well and then we did the apple trick. but after it fruited it died.. But reading on them it is normal that they do that.
I have had avocado seeds sprout in my compost bins in the summer.. I would just pop it into a pot of potting soil and put it in a warm spot in the yard and keep it damp.. I don't keep one in the house tho.. got too many citrus trees and a banana to deal with.. 
you can make cuttings of the purple basil by cutting some and plunking it in some water.
The Brussels sprout you can pick those sprouts now but if it over wintered they will soon split and grow flowers.. let them bloom and make the big long pods and let the pods dry and harvest the little seed for next season. they are biannual and will soon set seed this year..


----------

