# Seeds, Fertilizer and Insecticides



## DadofTheFamily (Feb 19, 2015)

I interact with a few preppers each week and find that many focus on "bullets, beans and band-aids". All fine and good. However I find few people who have embraced storing non-GMO seeds, storeable fertilizer and insecticides. I store seeds and grow wholesome organic produce in my home garden. However, I do occasionally use modern fertilizer to help "boost" my plants when I transplant and when organic fertilizer is in short supply. I also use botanical-based and Diatomaceous Earth insecticide and my special "cigar butt" tea for managing pests. I am storing seeds, fertilizer and insectide along with my "bullets, beans and band-aids". What are your thoughts on this? Do you store any seeds, fertilizer or insecticides (natural or otherwise)?


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

We store seeds but I never thought about fertilizer or Insecticides. I suppose I have a few bottles of insecticides in the garage but I have no idea how long they'd be good for. Same with fertilizer. I had an open bag of fertilizer that was hidden behind a wheelbarrow once that sat their for a long time and it got to smelling real bad.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

I was thinking about fertilizer myself (fertilizing the fruit trees today). Since I use about 3-4 bags a year it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and buy them in anticipation for using them next year. 
If I were forced to grow a garden in this red clay a good supply of fertilizer would be a big help. 4 bags may not cover much ground but still worth having.


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## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

I save seeds from everything I grow. Ensures a crop next year. 

I don't store fertilizer. What I have done is mulch. Mulch keeps the weeds down and will eventually feed the trees. I do not rake anything. Any leaves that fall, stay there to break down. 

I make my own compost so that it can go in the garden. No real "need" for modern fertilizers at casa de kevincali, though YMMV.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

Compost, compost, compost! Compost is the best fertilizer you can get. Fish heads are also great if you fish a little stinky and not recommended if you have coyotes or wolves in your area, as it will draw them in. Coffee grounds and egg shells provide a lot of nutrients, so stop throwing them away. If you do need to store fertilizer get the liquid concentrates, that way it will not take up a lot of room for the amount you will end up with. As far as insecticides go, you can make almost anything if you have vinegar, cinnamon, basil, and orange oil. I have said before and will continue to say it - you don't have enough vinegar stored! The uses for it are so multifaceted that you can never have enough.

This is one of the commercial fertilizers I like, Shop SUPERthrive 4 fl oz Superthrive Plant Food Liquid at Lowes.com Not a sales pitch just a recommendation, especially for those of you that do raised beds.


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## Real Old Man (Aug 17, 2015)

If you have chickens chicken Poop is a pretty good balanced natural fertilizer.


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

> I am storing seeds, fertilizer and insectide along with my "bullets, beans and band-aids". What are your thoughts on this? Do you store any seeds, fertilizer or insecticides (natural or otherwise)?


*Think I aint!!!
*
Like you I very much prefer the organic, back to mother nature approach and that's what I do here despite my tiny lot to work with. But it did occur to my a few years ago that what if...What if I had to bail out some where else and what if I didn't have the luxury of 3-5 years to get a large organic bed going full speed ahead. What if I needed to break ground and get a large garden going right now and guarantee myself that I have produce next season as my food supplies start to run out? I am thinking a couple of 40 pound bags of Modern Fertilizer as much as I don't like it would be worth its weight in gold when it would be counting the most!

Yes I got seeds too...Heirloom and Hybrids. Why both? Well I am trying to expand my Heirloom Seed supply and inventory. Its taking a while to find them and then to find varieties I like and then recover seeds for a rainy day. In the meantime the Hybrids are on sale right now for about 12 cents a pack instead of 1.99! I am cleaning the shelves out when I see something I am okay with. While I probably wont use that many of them and probably have a poor sprouting rate at best over time, there are some I use heavily right now, like Spinach, Broccoli with tiny seeds that are harder to separate than say something like Watermelon or Tomatoes. Then there is the flip side of the coin....what do you do when S suddenly HTF and you haven't built up your Heirloom Seed bank up yet? Id rather have something to plant than to cut my nose off to spite my face and have nothing at all to plant. Plus I might need to grow a lot more than what I got seeds for and this is where those hybrids would come in handy. Yes there is the possibility of some cross contamination between GMO and non-GMO, but I have to eat regardless don't I or what's the point? Consider too that it takes a hell of a lot of seeds to make a garden big enough for a family of four, plus big enough to compensate for things that didn't do so well this year, plus what the Crows and the Raccoons raided, not to mention the bugs and what not. That's a lot of sprouting and a lot of planting required to over come all those hurdles and trip hazards. Yeah I am stacking seeds almost as deep as bullets!

Yes even I have some pesticides laying around this homestead. Not much. But there are just some times when its a matter of if I don't use this crap, the season is a wash and I have wasted a lot of time and money. That's okay now cause I can always go to the store and get more. But if the SHTF...is the store gonna be open? If it is can I afford the asking prices for food? So yeah I got a few large bottles and a couple of sprayers for the chemical pesticides. Its just extremely rare I use it on something I am gonna eat!

Im not a great example of a prepper, I don't have a bunker full of beans and toilet paper. I have always put my efforts in the things that will allow me to be sustainable vs trying to stock pile enough stuff to last me the decade it takes society to come back and production lines to get going again. Its those sustainable things I have always put more of my efforts into.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

I was unaware that MOST preppers did not stock seeds... I thought all preppers were required to have the seeds plus know the secret handshake and prepper "SIGN"

fertilizer and insectacide,,, never thought to much about that


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Well Maine Marine, most do...go out and buy a can or two of those seeds. That's great. But how many are honing their skills now so they can make it count when it counts the most. How many are adept at recovering seeds from some of their produce so there are seeds to plant next year. It looks easy enough on You Tube but is it really all that easy in many cases to recover a suitable supply of seeds to get you through the next two seasons? There is a lot more to gardening in my experience than throwing some seeds in the ground and next week harvesting a bountiful crop. There may not be a store next season with seeds for sale either. I grew up on a farm and we raised most of our food and I still find myself struggling at times to make it all happen.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

LunaticFringeInc said:


> Well Maine Marine, most do...go out and buy a can or two of those seeds. That's great. But how many are honing their skills now so they can make it count when it counts the most. How many are adept at recovering seeds from some of their produce so there are seeds to plant next year. It looks easy enough on You Tube but is it really all that easy in many cases to recover a suitable supply of seeds to get you through the next two seasons? There is a lot more to gardening in my experience than throwing some seeds in the ground and next week harvesting a bountiful crop. There may not be a store next season with seeds for sale either. I grew up on a farm and we raised most of our food and I still find myself struggling at times to make it all happen.


whats to know, you plant the seeds and they grow..........


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## Stick (Sep 29, 2014)

whats to know, you plant the seeds and they grow..........

Sure. Plants shrivel in my presence. My aloe vera died last year. I live in the desert and cannot grow ornamental cactus. This year I used commercial garden soil in two five gallon buckets. I did not know that tomato plants can get so big. Two of them cover a 8x7 foot vertical area, I've got (or will have...gonna pick the first two tomorrow) tons of tomatoes. Now my main worry is if I have enough Parmesan...


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

And again - compost, compost, compost. It's the only fertilizer I use. I have an endless supply of chicken manure/bedding , and equine poop, old hay. It all gets hot composted to kill fly eggs, weed seeds, and parasites. From manure to finished compost in just 6 weeks. Healthy soil and healthy plants can handle pests. An organic garden invites beneficial insects such as lady bugs, lace wings, tiny wasps, and praying manti. If you get the good guys established, you really don't have much of a pest problem.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

After we till the soil in the fall we always let the birds in the garden area to clean up any thing they can find. Then we add compost and till it again. The turkeys are so much fun to watch, when one of them finds something the others come running then it is like the game keep away. For our amusement I always leave a few carrots and some other goodies for them. Yes I know, simple minds, simple pleasures.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

No, Auntie, I will tell you what _really _simple minds do for pleasure. For years we had a rescue desert tortoise that lived in our back yard. Timmy would come out around 5 pm to make a round of the yard and then settle down to grazing on the small bermuda grassy area (too small to call a lawn). I'd bring out his plate of food (all kinds of nutritious veggies) and we would watch him eat! (If I was late, he would go to the back door and scratch. If by chance he got into the house, he's go right to the kitchen and hang out until I gave him a treat. He'd also try to chase the Maltepoo for whatever purpose I cannot image, but with no success in catching the dog. Anyway, we'd pull up chairs to watch Timmy make his rounds and graze. Now that's entertainment for truly simple minds.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

So if we got your turtle and my turkeys together we could be entertained for hours!


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## redhawk (May 7, 2014)

I store seeds (heirloom) and I compost (the best fertilizer) and I make my own insecticidal soap (insecticide). This is a great reminder and thanks for sharing!


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Auntie said:


> ...Yes I know, simple minds, simple pleasures.





RNprepper said:


> ...I will tell you what _really _simple minds do for pleasure...


Well, I like and respect you two ladies very much so I won't go into the details of what REAL Simple Minded people do for pleasure. :icon_smile: Plus, getting banned all the time gets old! :neglected:


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