What happens when the grocery store runs out of food, and more isn’t coming? During a long-term food shortage, your family’s survival could depend on whether you have enough seeds to grow a thriving survival garden.
How do you do that? That’s exactly what we’re going to cover in this guide.
Of course, gardens take time to produce food, which is why most preppers also keep a supply of long-term survival foods stored at home.
At Survival Stoic, our team brings years of gardening experience to the table. Plus, we’ve also tested must-have survival garden gear, like survival seeds. Last year, for instance, we spent eight months germinating and testing the survival seed bucket from Heaven’s Harvest.
Keep reading to learn exactly what you need to stock up on, how to germinate seeds without electricity, and how to keep your plants alive when SHTF.
How to Start a Survival Garden
In a long-term survival situation, there are very few ways to get food. Gardening happens to be one of the most reliable.
Yes, there is the possibility of hunting and fishing, too. But there just isn’t enough wildlife around to feed everyone. During (and before) the Great Depression, so many whitetail deer were hunted that they almost went extinct. And today, we have far more people.
Subsidizing your harvest with fresh meat is always a good idea, but you cannot reliably live off of the forest (especially when everyone else is also trying to).
Luckily, gardening can reliably provide a surplus of food each year. Plus, if you know how to store food long-term, it can feed you through the winter, too!
Stocking Up on Survival Seeds
You cannot wait until a food shortage to stock up on seeds, though. In an emergency, seeds are bought up quickly. For instance, during COVID, there was a huge seed shortage as more and more people simply panicked, as there was no real food shortage.
The takeaway:
Stock up on seeds far before the emergency.
That said, many seeds you will find at your local store are GMO, which means that the seeds the plants make won’t be able to grow, limiting you to one harvest.
The seeds you buy matter a whole lot. Non-gmo heirloom seeds produce vegetables that have seeds that can be used year after year. They will end up making more seeds on top of what I already have!
Heirloom seeds are a must-have. Don’t just buy whatever is on the shelf at Lowe’s.
Seeds aren’t just helpful in SHTF situations. They’re also helpful in the case of extreme food inflation, wars, and other shortages. Seeds can be a wonderful trade item to help you obtain other things you need, too.
Here is why I think Heaven’s Harvest seeds are the best survival seeds, even for just my regular garden.
- All seeds are Non-gmo and Heirloom
- Packed in resealable Mylar bags and a resealable bucket
- Seeds have a 10 year shelf life
- 39 varieties of vegetables
- Huge amount of seeds in each packet, some have more than 4000!
- Best value in the long run
This kit may seem expensive, but considering the amount of seeds in it, it is a better value than buying the small packs in your local store. These are literally the only seeds you will need for a long time.
Plus you can save 10% off with our discount code “survivalstoic”!
Other Items You’ll Need
Of course, you can’t just plant a garden with seeds. You also need tons of other items, like tools and a way to get water, that work without the grid. You’ll need a watering can or water pump instead of a hose, for instance.
Many modern gardening tools just won’t work without our modern water infrastructure and electricity.
Without these modern tools, seeds can be a lot harder to keep alive, too. Getting water won’t be as simple as turning your hose on, and you won’t be able to buy pounds of gardening soil, either.
Therefore, you’ll have to stock up on a lot more than just seeds to successfully plant a survival garden. But it’s worth keeping your family fed!
Best Plants for Your Survival Garden
You don’t just want to buy any seeds for your survival garden. Tomatoes are great, but you can’t live off of them!
Think of starchy veggies and grains that you can use easily, and that will fill you up. Corn makes more sense than wheat, for instance, since you don’t need to grind it up. Things that require too much processing just don’t make sense for a one-family operation.
Also, consider what you actually eat and know how to cook. Butternut squash might grow great in your area, but do you know how to prepare it?
Now might be a good time to become more familiar with the fruits and vegetables that grow well in your region. Start using them in your cooking now, while you still have access to survival recipes on the internet.
Here’s the exact types of seeds I have stored and recommend:
- Asparagus
- Beet
- Broccoli
- Brussel Sprouts
- Bush Beans
- Cabbage
- Cantaloupe
- Carrot
- Cauliflower
- Celery
- Collards
- Corn
- Cucumber
- Eggplant
- Garlic
- Kale
- Leek
- Lettuce
- Lima Bean
- Mustard Green
- Okra
- Onion
- Pea
- Pepper (all kinds)
- Potatoe
- Pumpkin
- Radish
- Rutabaga
- Spinach
- Squash
- Sweet corn
- Tomato
- Turnip
- Watermelon
- Zucchini
Of course, you need to consider your local climate. But this list is a great starting point. Notice the huge variety. You need a varied diet to stay healthy, and your garden will be healthier if you’re growing a wide range of plants, too!
How to Get Those Plants Grown
Without modern technology, getting your seeds to germinate can be challenging and may require different techniques than modern gardeners are used to.
For instance, right now, our garden is watered with a timed water system that runs on Wifi and electricity. In a situation where the grid is down, this system just won’t work. Backup water storage containers and rain barrels would be necessary, especially if you lose access to city water.
All that said, I still recommend germinating seeds inside. I’ve tried it both ways during the testing for this article, and inside just works better. Here’s how to do it:
- Buy the Clyde’s Garden Planner. This nifty device lets you calculate indoor germination, outdoor planting, and harvest dates for a huge range of seeds. It’s cheap and provides all the information you need on the when of gardening. (You can also get it at Heaven’s Harvest when you buy your seeds).
- Start germination in jars with damp paper towels. Dampen a bunch of paper towels, squeezing out all the excess water. Then, gently fill a translucent jar full of them. You want them taking up all the room in the jar but not stuffed in. Next, place the seeds between the wall of the jar and the damp paper towel. Don’t place them too deep, or you’ll end up with very spindly plants.
- Wait. The seeds should germinate within a few days, but it depends on the type of seed. You may need to re-moisten the paper towels with a spray bottle.
- Transfer to a seed starter tray. Once the seeds have roots and two leaves, transfer them to a seed starter tray. Fill the trays with garden soil or compost and earthworm castings. These castings make a big difference and are exactly what I use to achieve an almost 100% germination rate. It saves, so stock up on it.
- Water and rotate. Water the seeds with a spray bottle as needed, keeping the cover on until the plants get too tall. Place them near a sunny, south-facing window and rotate the trays if you have a bunch to help ensure every plant gets a good amount of sunlight.
- Acclimate the plants. Based on the information from Clyde’s Garden Planner, start acclimating the plants about two weeks before you plan to plant them in the ground. Otherwise, you will lose most of your plants. Start with an hour a day when the weather is the best and slowly work up to all day. Keep an eye on the plants for stress.
- Plant them outside. Next, it’s time to plan them in the ground! Which brings us to our next section…
Keeping Your Survival Garden Alive
After germination, it’s up to you to keep your plants alive. While this may seem straightforward, there are a lot of caveats involved.
- Buy a gas tiller as soon as possible. Large-scale gardening isn’t practical without one, and electric ones won’t work when you don’t have electricity! Use this to till the ground and prepare it for your plants.
- Use companion planting to your advantage. Don’t plant similar plants close to each other, as they can transfer diseases. Use the attributes of different plants to your advantage. For instance, I plant corn so that it shades my strawberries. Strawberries like moist soil and Tennessee summers can be very hot.
- Consider your region. If you live somewhere very hot, get a sunshade that you can move around. If you live somewhere cool, make sure you have enough sheets to cover your plants in the case of an early frost.
- Have a plan for water. Once again, you might not have access to your usual city water. Have a different plan for how you’ll water your crops. Rain collection barrels and a gravity feed through drip lines is one option.
- Watch for disease and pests. Diseases and pests will be present in any garden. It’s up to you to control them! Typically, this means removing the pests manually and knowing how to treat common plant diseases. You’ll be surprised by how many things can be cured with a little soapy water.
Keeping your survival garden alive really only comes with practice. After a couple of years, you will understand what to watch for as your garden starts to grow. If you find your plants commonly get blight, for example, make sure to keep extra anti-fungal treatment or find a natural way to treat them.
What to Buy Now & What to Save for Later
I recommend stocking up on most of the things you’ll need beforehand. This means everything from seeds to worm castings to hand tools.
I recommend having at least a small garden so that you can practice and figure out what you need based on the specific challenges you have. This should go hand-in-hand with building a 3-month food supply at home.
For instance, after having a very tough time weeding, I purchased one of these action hoes. Changed my life!
There are some things you shouldn’t try to stock up on, though, like water. You simply cannot save enough water for a garden, practically speaking.
Avoid trying to stock up on garden soil, either. You should have enough for your first germination. After that, plan on using your own compost for germinating seeds (and treat it with the worm castings).
A Quick List of Everything You Need
Here’s a quick list of everything you need for a survival garden:
- Heirloom seeds
- Garden soil
- Worm castings
- Seed starter trays
- Watering cans
- Backup water sources
- Hand trowel
- Shovel
- Action Hoe
- Gas-powered tiller
- Clyde’s Garden Planner
- Paper towels
- Mason jars (small, preferably)
Learn More
A survival garden is only one way to prepare for a food shortage. Make sure you’re taking other steps, too.
For instance, a garden will take several months to produce food, so make sure you have enough long-term food stored to feed your family until then. You may even consider emergency food kits to get you through those lean months.
Check out the other items on our prepper checklist, too.
