CHAPTER 17 - SEED PARTICULARS

The most vital aspects of emergency seed storage are found in the description and explanation for the following terms: “non-hybrid”, “heirloom varieties”, “all-natural & GMO-free”, and “high-germination rate”. 

Once you clearly understand the meaning of those terms and why they are important, you will have a good idea what is best for your own personal storage system.

NON-HYBRID

The terms “hybrid” and “non-hybrid” mainly defines whether the seeds used to grow crops are good for only one season (hybrid), or can be used in a cycle of continual crop growing year after year.  When preparing for an emergency survival situation that has the potential of lasting for years, non-hybrid seeds are one of the most important things in your food storage system that will be a source of nutrition for your family indefinitely. 

When you grow crops using non-hybrid seeds, the seeds contained in the produce, etc. that is grown can be saved and reused the next growing season for the same crop production.  Non-hybrid seeds essentially create a “self-sustaining” garden in that you only need to have the initial set of seeds stored for the first crop production because after that, the seed vault can be replenished simply by saving the seeds from the foods you eat that are grown from non-hybrid seeds. 

It is commonly believed that all seeds should work that way, and indeed they should and would if they had not been genetically altered (by human hands for the most part). 

Hybrid seeds have been manipulated through crossbreeding usually in the attempt to produce a better version of whatever you are trying to grow.  For example, one type of tomato plant might tolerate drought better than others while another type of tomato may produce larger tomatoes. 

If you crossbreed the types, you will then be able to grow a tomato that has both characteristics – one that will grow larger tomatoes and be able to survive a drought at the same time.  While this sounds like a no-brainer of sorts, the problem is the tomato produced from this cross-pollination has seeds that are pretty much useless. 

These seeds will not grow the same produce so if you want more of it next year, you will have to buy the seeds all over again.  The survival implications of this are rather clear – you cannot grow crops to eat if you do not have somewhere to buy the seeds every year. 

Hybrid seeds force you to depend on someone or something else in order to grow crops that just might not be available in survival situations.  Remember the goal of food storage preparations is to give you the tools you need to feed yourself and your loved ones without requiring the cooperation of anyone else who may or may not be willing to help you in a crisis-oriented environment.

HEIRLOOM SEEDS

Heirloom seeds come from plants that have grown from the same seeds since the earlier days of mankind’s history. 

These seeds are always non-hybrid by default because they have not been altered to produce anything other than what they were originally designed to produce. 

Most non-hybrid seeds themselves are also heirloom so the terms are most often used interchangeably.  The classification of “heirloom” as it relates to seed production is one that is often debated as to what qualifies a seed to be an heirloom.  This is the same type of debate that occurs when classifying objects as “antiques”. 

What makes something old enough to be an antique?  Like many things in our lives, there is much gray area and little black and white to the interpretation of “heirloom” is highly subjective.  But when considering the need of storing seeds in case of a crisis, it doesn’t matter whether the seeds you store are called heirloom seeds or not as long as they are non-hybrid seeds and thus reproducible.

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED OR GMO

Genetically altered seeds (such as found with many hybrid seeds) are ones that have been changed unnaturally through scientific means.  These are the result of humanity “monkeying” with Mother Nature for various reasons. 

This genetic engineering is fraught with conflict between those believing the alteration is an “improvement” of the growing system God created and those who believe that genetic altering at best is unnecessary and at worse dangerous and destructive to both present day society as well as future generations of mankind. 

Regardless of which side of the discussion you believe, when considering seeds for emergency storage it is “better safe than sorry”.  The most logical choice is to store up non-altered seeds in case the genetically engineered ones are unsafe as some believe. 

That way, if you eventually discover those seeds truly are safe, you really haven’t lost anything because you are able to grow healthy crops from your non-altered seeds. 

But if you have chosen to store those GMO seeds and find out they are destructive and detrimental to survival, you are “up the creek without a paddle” so to speak and no longer have the means to produce healthy crops to feed yourself and your loved ones. 

The wisest choice for seed storage seems clear – at least until there are no doubts as to the safety and/or efficiency of genetically altered seeds.