Emergency Seed Cans - what to look for
I was bored this afternoon and for some reason started looking at the variety of emergency survival seed collections, usually canned, that are out there for sale. The contents of some of these cans is interesting.
When looking into buying emergency seed canisters there are several things you should look at before purchasing.
1. You need to know your average length of growing season and your USDA zone number.
2. Look at the contents of the can. Are they vegetables you will eat, or can eat if you need to? Do you know how to prepare them?
3. Look up each of the plants being offered.
- I've found a couple instances where some of the seeds offered have extremely long growing seasons that would not be suitable for planting anywhere temperatures drop below a Zone 6.
- In one instance I found that one of the seeds offered was an F1 Hybrid. There should be no hybrid seeds in the collection.
4.Look for the storage capabilities of the resulting fruit or vegetable.
- Not all cucumbers are good for pickling or brining.
- Cabbages and carrots, parsnips, turnips, and all other root vegetables should keep well in a root cellar. Not all varieties do.
- Onions should be a good dry storage variety.
- Beans should be high yield. If they are bush or pole beans have a means to can them or make sure they are varieties that dry well.
- Winter squash should be a good storage variety. If you don't have the storage space for some of the huge marrows like Blue Hubbard or Pink Banana, consider sticking with Butternut.
- Corn is not provided in very large quantities. An old book of mine tells me it takes 10lbs of corn on 1 acre of land to give you 100 bushels of corn ears. And I'm guessing that's on good fertile ground. Do your research on the variety well. Is there enough seed? Is it only good as sweet corn? Or can it be dried and ground into a good cornmeal.
- All of the lettuces provided seem to be the older tender leaf varieties. None of the cans I looked at offered the more cold hardy greens such as Mache or Claytonia or Escarole or Kale, though a couple cans offered Chard. You want to be able to extend your growing season starting as soon as the ground thaws to as late in the year as possible in the north.
- Be sure the varieties will grow in the hotter Zones if you live in the South. Some of them may have to be planted early or late to avoid the summer heat.
- Remember that similar plants will cross pollinate. Particularly the squashes. If you plan to collect seed, you may want to plant only one variety of summer and winter squash well away from each other.
5. Check with your local county Extension Service to find out what particular pests you need to watch out for. Does your area have Mexican bean beetle? Do you know how to protect your broccoli and cauliflower from the Cabbage Moth? What do you do about flea beetles and carrot maggots?
6. Don't rely on the instruction book provided with the can. If it's in the can you don't know how good or bad it is. Familiarize yourself with the plants you might be growing by practicing now. If you can afford it, buy a can and use it now. Collect seed and use that the next year, and again the next, until you are comfortable with the routine of growing, eating, putting by, and saving seed. You may want to keep several cans rather than just one.
7. Find out how to collect seed for each of the plants. Some plants need to grow two seasons to set seed. In some Zones you may have to lift them and store them in a cool place to get them through the winter.
8. Get a good book or two on companion planting. I can recommend two that I've used with some success, and even though they do have some conflicting info, it's minimal. There are other books out there as well. Not only do they provide info on what plants like to grow together and what ones do not, they also provide herbal insect and disease controls, tell you what native plants are good to use, give you a list of non-edible herbs you may want to keep on hand for garden use, and also give a rotation schedule for your garden beds. Try some of the methods to make sure they work in your area. Not all methods work in all Zones.
Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting by Louise Riotte
Secrets of Companion Planting: Plants that Help, Plants that Hurt by Brenda Little
9. Have a good start on your growing area. Most of these cans say they plant a 1/2 acre. A few will do up to an acre. That's a lot of tilled ground. Figure out amounts you need to grow for your family and try to figure the ground space. Do you do many raised beds or conventional field tilling? Will you have gasoline for the tiller? How are you going to irrigate? Are you going to need a critter fence to keep the deer, raccoon, and rabbits out (long enough for you to find your rifle :)). Lay in a supply of floating row cover and rolled poly (UV-stable plastic sheeting). Keep both in a dry location out of the sun to extend their life. Consider a greenhouse and a way to heat it to get plants started before the ground thaws. Will you have fuel to power the heater or do you need to come up with other means? (a beer can solar heater perhaps?) Have your storage planned out. Cool and dry for some things (the attic or barn?), a root cellar area for cool but not too dry storage (the cellar?), a means and a place to string and dry some of your produce, a means to can and preserve other produce. Is it worth it to invest now in a good quality Pressure Canner and learn how to use it? Not only is it good for non-acid vegetables but also for meats. Unless you pickle your vegetables, most require pressure canning. Water bath canning just isn't safe. On the subject of canning, do you have a stock of lids? Or do you invest in the glass jars with the re-usable gaskets available from some European sources? (I haven't been able to try them. Too $$$)
Do you have the spices you use and the vinegar and/or brining salt you will need?
Just going out and buying a can of seeds will not make you self-sufficient in an emergency. Growing plants is not as easy as sticking a seed in the ground and standing back. Vegetables don't store themselves either. It takes work, it takes patience, and above all it takes practice. Get out there!
