seeds

[intuitive]

im looking for having a small seed bank ready if need be so easy grows and good returns...obviously the issue here is if its wild im unlikely to have compost lol, but if we do end up going to a possible spoken about place then the garden has a grow patch and plenty land to grow so alot easier. but im looking for something for both.

i only want the standard sorts...ive seen on amazon seed kits with upto 40 different kinds of fruit and veg but i dont know much about this kind of lifestyle too much and it seems rather large and some of the reviews of products are hit and miss.

theres always the possibility of growing above ground with water too.

[jansman]

Gardening is a learned skill. You cannot just store seeds and expect to grow the contents of the Tesco veg aisle in an instant.

I am quite passionate about this subject. You have to learn to garden, seeds have to be grown and saved. Pests and disease WILL ravage your plants. Do you have water? Do you have tools? Do you know how to deal with pests?

Having a ‘seedbank’ is not a guarantee of a food source. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but this topic comes up so many times it gets tiresome. Growing food is not as simple as you may think. Seeds will sprout, but after that, nature takes over.

If you fancy gardening, have a go. I may have misunderstood your post, as you may already be a gardener.

[intuitive]

lol, no no i completely understand i have a basic understanding of gardening and so does my father inlaw...hes grown food at times and the place to go we may end up is another family member who grows some of her own stuff and has a good head in the garden...however id rather when we go we had the stuff to go so its becoming abit of a family idea and plan now rather than just 2 houses. also if you see any of my other posts asking about odd things...me and the father inlaw plan on going on camping trips some local some not so...he wants to hike alittle as he used to do that and camp up the moors etc. so its a case of hobby slash prepping come family plan lol

[jansman]

lol, no no i completely understand i have a basic understanding of gardening and so does my father inlaw...hes grown food at times and the place to go we may end up is another family member who grows some of her own stuff and has a good head in the garden...however id rather when we go we had the stuff to go so its becoming abit of a family idea and plan now rather than just 2 houses. also if you see any of my other posts asking about odd things...me and the father inlaw plan on going on camping trips some local some not so...he wants to hike alittle as he used to do that and camp up the moors etc. so its a case of hobby slash prepping come family plan lol

Nothing odd about questions at all. Learn to garden now if it is part of your plan. I have already laid in seed compost and fresh seeds in for next season. Grow what you eat normally.

[Arwen Thebard]

Gardening is a learned skill. You cannot just store seeds and expect to grow the contents of the Tesco veg aisle in an instant.

I am quite passionate about this subject. You have to learn to garden, seeds have to be grown and saved. Pests and disease WILL ravage your plants. Do you have water? Do you have tools? Do you know how to deal with pests?

Having a ‘seedbank’ is not a guarantee of a food source. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but this topic comes up so many times it gets tiresome. Growing food is not as simple as you may think. Seeds will sprout, but after that, nature takes over.

If you fancy gardening, have a go. I may have misunderstood your post, as you may already be a gardener.

Do you save and store your own seeds Jansman? If so, are they dry stored in jars etc or in the deep freeze?

[GillyBee]

Real Seeds have good advice on saving seed yourself for free.
I now only buy tomato and bean seed if I want a new variety to try. Supermarket tomato seed can be saved and will grow. Ditto red peppers and chillies.

Seed needs to be kept cool and dry. For me that means a box of envelopes in the house but I am not expecting it to last more than a year or two.
The freezer is a good idea for keeping seed for multiple years.
If you find a couple of gardeners who all save seed for one or two things, you could do a seed swap and get a basic stash together for next to nothing.
Meanwhile you are learning how to get the best out of your garden, just in case you do really need it.

[jansman]

Gardening is a learned skill. You cannot just store seeds and expect to grow the contents of the Tesco veg aisle in an instant.

I am quite passionate about this subject. You have to learn to garden, seeds have to be grown and saved. Pests and disease WILL ravage your plants. Do you have water? Do you have tools? Do you know how to deal with pests?

Having a ‘seedbank’ is not a guarantee of a food source. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but this topic comes up so many times it gets tiresome. Growing food is not as simple as you may think. Seeds will sprout, but after that, nature takes over.

If you fancy gardening, have a go. I may have misunderstood your post, as you may already be a gardener.

Do you save and store your own seeds Jansman? If so, are they dry stored in jars etc or in the deep freeze?

I do save seed Arwen.Blue Lake beans,and Lady Di Runners.I let them dry on the vine,then dry the loose beans thoroughly and store in jars.The same with peas ( Champion of England). Tomatoes (Gardeners Delight),I let ripen ,then squeeze the seeds and pulp into a jar with a little water,and let it ferment forthree days,no more.Then wash in a sieve,dry properly,and then store in a paper bag.Nasturtiums I let dry on the vine and store in paper.Perpetual spinach I let go to seed,then shake it onto the soil.And it grows again next year. Brassicas,Squash and sweetcorn I buy in.Spuds too.I have a lot of perennials too,so no sowing and saving needed. Any seed ,bought or saved is stored at the back of our walk in pantry on the stone thrall.

[cbp125]

Id recommend real seeds but some one already has, they actually have a section on prepping seeds discouraging it for the reasons Jansman mentioned.

Id suggest you get allotments, waiting lists are long at the moment but you will learn so much from the older wiser hands who have done this for many years, if nothing else, its good excersise and fresh air to escape to.

[jansman]

Id recommend real seeds but some one already has, they actually have a section on prepping seeds discouraging it for the reasons Jansman mentioned.

Id suggest you get allotments, waiting lists are long at the moment but you will learn so much from the older wiser hands who have done this for many years, if nothing else, its good excersise and fresh air to escape to.

Allotments are great. I love ‘em! However, they do take time. At one time I had an acre of ground with two big polytunnel, and I had goats as well. I did it to create a second income stream. I have had allotments too, and to do it properly, you really need at least 8 hours per week. I am fortunate ( although as I get older , I wonder?) to have a large garden.

There’s only The Duchess and me. We don’t need a lot. Over the last three days, we have eaten , from the garden, marrow, Welsh onions,spinach and green beans. All grown in small beds or containers. The climbing beans are grown in cut-off 50 gallon drums. It works well. You don’t need a lot of space to grow *something*.

[PreppingPingu]

http://www.uk-preppers.co.uk/forum/view ... 21&t=16572 is a thread where I posted something about it, as other have said, from Real Seeds.

As Jansman said, have a go now, get into practice so if you find yourself in that position of having to grow your own, you will have a head start. I have found that I never quite manage to water enough - you always need to water more than you think! The other thing about growing your own, is then preserving your own. I have grown far too many courgettes this year (as most folks do,) so I have been researching pickling recipes and other methods of preserving them, as I'd hate for what I have grown to go to waste. One thing I have found very important to remember is to grow what you will eat. Sounds obvious but if you bought a pack of, for arguments sake, a pack of "apocalypse seeds", you may well find that half of what is in there are plants that you don't like or can't grow in your local soil/climate conditions. In my allotment I rarely grow beans as I'm the only family member who likes them, however, I grow loads of spuds, raspberries and carrots as we all eat those in my house. The exception to that is growing items for bartering or swaps. I gave a fellow allotment holder a load of raspberries as his crop had failed and he gave me some beans in exchange.

One thing to think about if you are looking at seeds and growing but don't have huge amounts of experience or time to learn, is planting things in your garden that sort of look after themselves/ don't take a lot of paying attention to such as blackberries, rapsberries and rhubarb. Look at wild foods such as nettles, garlic mustard, and many of the old plants that look like weeds but you can eat in salads and soups. Herbs too. I have a wild damson tree that now has shed it's damsons over the last few years on the ground and I now have several new ones shooting up and they grow and start producing fruit fast.