Your Seed Vault: What It Should Contain
In survival situations, money can lose its value overnight. So can expensive modern comforts and luxury items like electronics, jewelry and accessories. There are a few items that will get more expensive, food being the top one.
Seeds are among the most valuable commodities in survival communities. (Clearly, since you can use them to grow food.) I always advise my students to keep a seed vault and I keep several myself. What can I say, I want to make sure I’m covered even if someone discovers and confiscates or steals one batch of seeds, I can always use a different batch.
It’s best to grow your own garden and store the seeds that you extract from your own produce. Why? Because you know that you are not adding chemicals, synthetic plant food, or other strange compounds. There’s something great about knowing where your seeds came from. When you’re ready to plant your survival garden, if your family doesn’t have one, buy organic heirloom seeds. You will grow real food that tastes great and does not have GMOs in its “genetic code.”
Storing seeds properly does take skill, but with practice you can be a pro. When you extract the seeds, wash all of the fruit or vegetable fibers off the seeds and pat them dry. Then lay them out to dry on a paper towel or on a cotton kitchen towel. If the towel is soaked afterwards, change it. Bottom line is, your seeds need to be 100% dry before you put the away in your “storage vault.” Otherwise, they can spoil and grow mold, or they can even germinate.
Put your seeds in paper bags or wrap them in paper and put in Ziploc bags. Try to get the oxygen out of the bags (in other words, flatten them before you close them.) The ideal condition for storing your survival seeds are as follows:
1. Keep the seeds out of direct sunlight. One good trick is to put the bags of seeds into an old coffee can or metal kitchen canister.
2. Keep them cool. Seeds store much better in cooler temperatures. A good rule of thumb is to keep your vault at around 40 degrees F.
3. Make sure your seeds stay dry. Moisture destroys the seeds and can even go as far as to germinate them. If you have the proper tools, keep the moisture in your seed vault at or below 5%. You can dry them in a dehydrator or in the sun.
A great alternative to collecting your own seeds is buying survival seeds. You can get a kit with a huge array of fruits, veggies and herbs which are all organic, heirloom, non-GMO seeds.
I recommend storing a variety of seeds for survival, both as a food source and as a commodity. Keep them dark, cool, and dry, and when the SHTF you’ll have enough nutritious food to last you and your family a lifetime.