Types of Seeds Preppers May Want to Stockpile
Kevin Felts 05.16.18
The reader of this article decides they want to stockpile seeds. They go to a local farm supply store, walk in, look at the seed selection, then what?
Any farm supply store worth their salt is going to have bins of seeds. Some of the stores I have visited over the years, their seed bins around 24 inches long and 12 inches wide. Each bin was full of corn, bean and pea seed.
Other types of seeds, such as okra, squash, spinach, watermelons… etc, were kept in quart sized jars. The jars were refilled from seed bags that may have been three feet tall.
Some types of seeds are sold by the ounce, such as radish, squash, melons and okra. Other types of seeds such a bean, pea and corn are sold by the pound. If someone does not want a pound of seed, they are sold in 1/4 pound increments.
Types of Seeds
My personal seed stockpile is divided into a number of categories, such as spring and fall crops. Then they are further divided into spices and main crops.
For the sake of this discussion let’s talk about storable and non-storable crops.
Storable are anything which can be dried or canned. Examples include:
- Tomatoes
- Corn
- Okra
- Beans
- Peas
- Cucumbers
Non-storable are crops which can not be stored by artificial means:
- Squash
- Zuchinni
- Greens
- Radishes
- Spinach
- Rutabaga
Winter squash can be stored in a cool dry location for several months. I have seen acorn squash left on a kitchen counter for a couple of months and did not spoil.
Crop Planning
Growing a variety of crops not only offers a range of nutritional needs, it also combats food fatigue.
I recently bumped into a colleague who plants a nice sized garden very year. He told me he planted 50 rows of corn, each row was around 200 feet long. Then he also planted over 200 pepper and tomato plants. Then there was the okra that was starting to come up.
Just about could be stored in one way or another. Whether it was through canning or drying, most of his crops could be stored. Having such a large garden also allows him to trade with other local farmers.
I would be willing to trade eggs for some of his crops.
This also opens up the possibility of trading some of my corn seed in exchange for part of the crop.
Once a certain amount of seed is stockpiled, then it could be used to barter for other needed items. In a post-SHTF world, seeds would probably be worth their weight in silver.
