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I wouldn't count on it. I bought some in a seed vault. Some store seeds in the freezer. I have done that with some but we'll see. I doubt 5+ years.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jackangus
The average from what I have read is about 2 years but I am no expert.
The 1st year I bought heirloom seeds for an emergency I purchased 2 packs, put a date on the mylar bag, and tossed them into the chest freezer since almost all seeds will survive 3+ years in the freezer. Ever since every fall I've ordered a fresh pack of seeds, dated them, and added the small pack along with any instructions that came with the seeds to the freezer (ziplock bag to keep things together). This way I've got different heirloom seeds built up over the years "just in case". If ever needed I can trade the older seed packs.Quote:
Originally Posted by inceptor
Most "survival" seed packs don't take up much freezer space.
What I have in the freezer is a couple of varieties of this.Quote:
Originally Posted by John Galt
https://www.amazon.com/Heirloom-Vege.../dp/B017YET9K6
I don't have this in the freezer but I got it a few years ago.
https://www.amazon.com/Survival-Heir...vault+heirloom
Just ordered the Survival Seed Vault. That will get me started.Quote:
Originally Posted by inceptor
Thanks for the heads up, much appreciated.
In addition to seeds for food, seeds for herbs are a great prep. Not only to season the food but for tea and medicinal purposes. Same feeezing to store for a few years then replace as necessary.
Don't know if you've had a chance to google heirloom seeds NZ, but these folks came right upQuote:
Originally Posted by Jackangus
Search Results : Gardenstuff Flowers, Herbs and Vegetables, All the wildflower, flower, herb and vegetable seeds you will ever want, the best range for sale online in New Zealand
Good luck and welcome aboard
Hope you missed out on the earthquake
Good advice here. The only place I am gonna part ways and differ in opinion is this. Id get my hands on some Heirlooms to begin with and just start slowly as suggested. Try some simple stuff like Beans, Corn, Peppers and Tomatoes. You dont need a lot just a few. Starting small is a good route to go. What I would do though is save some seeds from what you grow and build up your seed collection in prep for the next seasons garden. One Tomato plant can give you a few hundred seeds for next season! If you have to live on what you grow its going to take a pretty sizable garden to feed a family of four to get you by day to day, plus enough to get you through the winter season if you have one there. Plus you always have to consider the fact that if you loose you garden due to a disaster or poor year, you still need enough produce laid back to see you through not to mention enough seeds to get you started and back up and running again! I would then expand my seed collection every year as you go and as you gain more experience. Yes even with my extensive experience I am still struggling it seems to plant the small seeds and reliably do well. Dont know what it is about those small seeds like Broccoli, Carrots etc....but "the force is not strong with me" apparently!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonya
Also consider too, my raised beds started off with great organic soil but didnt really start to mature and come around until they were about 3 years old. They have gotten better every year since. Most soils arent all that great and it takes some time to amend them without using Chemicals and what not and time for it to become nutrient rich and loamy, giving me great production in a small area with minimal watering required. Your garden will probably be little different! I have been at this pretty hard core for about 6 years. Part of the learning curve has been trying different growing techniques, finding out what works best here with the least amount of effort on my part but still gives me the best production. Some things worked well some not so well. Some not at all! Even after all of that time and effort, I am not growing all my food just about half of it although I aint blessed with a whole lot of space to work with. Its a process to be sure and I am gradually getting there a little closer each season as I slowly get back to a point where I was when I was a teenager growing up in a rural community when 90% of what we had was grown or raised on the homestead! My point here...Rome wasnt built in a day - it took some time.
Yeah sadly I think many of the folks that are buying those "easy emergency survival seed vaults" would starve before they ever managed to produce anything. It would end up being a lot of back breaking work and a whole lot of tears with no real harvest.Quote:
Originally Posted by LunaticFringeInc
I don't garden, mainly because the 2-3 times I tried something happened (like catepillars showing up and eating all of my beautiful "growing so well" little plants in 2 nights). But I do want to try again.
One thing I find interesting are the methods and crops grown by settlers. Today we tend to grow stuff and plan to preserve it all for year round use. Back then they focused on growing/eating seasonal crops throughout the year which makes more sense for a variety of reasons.
I just bought some seeds in packets today. There best buy date is 2020 which is a good amount of time away.
Is there any point in repackaging them in Mylar, with oxygen absorbers?
I don't think I would use oxygen absorbers. Google storing seeds.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jackangus
Remember these are living things, it isn't like storing dried grains.