I have read and heard a ton about survival seeds and making sure that you have seeds for growing food in your emergency survival kit. This is important I think because freeze dried food in your emergency survival kit only goes so far. I held off for a while because my initial research told me that they were too expensive and there were too many choices. I have finally worked far enough down my survival kit list that it was time to give these seed packages some serious consideration. I found one that looked promising and decided to give it a try as part of my emergency preparedness kit. The maker/seller of the seeds declined to give me a free or discounted set of seeds in exchange for a review so I decided to just purchase the package outright and give them a try as I continue to build my survival kit. What good are food seeds in your emergency survival kit if they don’t work or aren’t tested? Not much I think so I’m also giving my food seeds in my emergency survival kit a real world trial in my raised bed garden.
Primary Seeds in my Emergency Survival Kit
One of the primary characteristics in almost every food seed package sold for emergency survival kits is that the seeds are heirloom. This means, in general, that they are not hybrids or genetically modified. The fact that they aren’t hybrids means that they should produce fruits that produce seeds that can then be reused in subsequent years. The package I purchased was advertised to feed four people and contained a wide variety of seeds. Each seller of seeds for emergency survival kits has a slightly different mix of seeds but most contain your basic legumes, vegetables and leafy greens. From what I’m learning about seed packages as part of building a survival kit is that they add to their price by increasing the number of seeds to feed an increasingly large group of people AND they increase the types of seeds – sometimes into the list of food plants that seem to be of increasingly less value. For example, chives and cilantro. Really? In an emergency survival kit? This package of seeds for my Emergency Survival Kit also came with it’s own storage container which is an advantage in some respects but may be a hindrance when packed within my storage containers for survival kits.
Secondary Seeds in my Emergency Preparedness Kit
The seed package I purchased for my emergency survival kit had a good supply of basic foods with seeds that are large enough to handle. It also came with an even larger supply of seeds that were of secondary value in my opinion. These types of seeds also tended to be much smaller, more difficult to handle and require inside germination in some cases. Now, I do agree with designing and building a survival kit with comfort in mind. That said, it is my opinion that the emergency preparedness kit comfort needs to be considered with respect to how much effort is required relative to the value or comfort to be expected. It seems to me that the effort required to plant and manage very small seeds that require careful germination might not be as good an idea as increasing the number of seeds in the basic foods.
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Build a Survival Kit with Rainwater Collection
The drought last Summer in Texas had a number of people rethink their emergency survival kit needs and what is needed to build a survival kit. Water is a critical resource for planning your emergency preparedness kit and can’t easily be included in the things that you stock. I’ve built a simple rain water collection system at my home and also at another, more remote location, to insure that we have water in case of emergency. Rain water collection systems can range from very simple to very complex depending on your needs and budget. Mine is a very simple model with basic filtration and a large tank and was built for less than $1,000. This system will need a water filtration kit. I was amazed at how much rain can be collected from a small roof area. I’m getting a couble benefit from my rain water collection system in that I’m using it to water my raised bed garden where I’m testing my seeds in my emergency survival kit
Raised Bed Garden Testing
I am implementing the Square Foot Garden method to test my seeds in my emergency survival kit. This approach advocates much denser planting with careful attention to each plant as opposed to using a much larger area of land with correspondingly greater effort to prepare, plant and tend it. I’ve used a raised bed garden in the past with good success but without the details of the Square Foot Garden methods. I’m also using my raised bed garden to test the seed package I purchase for my emergency preparedness kit. I will also add gardening tools as I build my survival kit.
Summary of Seeds in an Emergency Survival Kit
Seed package for an emergency survival kit seem to be the rage. I’ve come along way since I started this project to build a survival kit two years ago. There are almost too many choices and it is easy to ignore the question of the viability of the seeds. I purchased a package of seeds designed for my location and am testing them in my raised bed garden as part of my emergency preparedness kit. This test will require that I also harvest, save and dry the seeds and test them again next season. The key to survival seeds is that they produce seeds that can be reused. The variety of seeds in the package I purchased was huge – and probably too much in my opinion. I also implemented a rain water collection system to insure that I have potable water in the event of an emergency. My system is simple and was implemented for less than $1,000 which was a strain on my emergency survival kit budget.
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