Review of Survival Garden Seeds Heirloom Seed Kit
Survival garden seed vaults have become a hot topic over the last several years. But are they really worth the cost? Do they grow any better than regular seeds? Check out this review of a popular survival seed kit company!
Since 2020, I think we’ve all noticed that there has been a huge uptick in the number of people interested in gardening.
And for good reasons!
Learning how to grow your own food provides you with food security apart from the grocery store. It also allows you to take control of the quality of your food.
Having a reliable source of viable seeds in order to do this is critical. This can easily be done by cultivating a kit of heirloom emergency survival seeds.
And the good news is, at this time, there are reliable seed companies out there who have these kits ready to purchase for you!
In this post, we’re going to take a look at two storable garden seed vault kits sent to me by Survival Garden Seeds. And not just the details on the kits – but my actual season by season results of trying to grow a successful garden!
These seeds were provided to me for free in exchange for an honest product review. The review you will read is 100% based on my own experience with the product.
Affiliate Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, this means that I will earn a small commission if you choose to purchase through my links. This is at no extra cost to you!
Who is Survival Garden Seeds?
Survival Garden Seeds is a small American owned business, started by two brothers. They are passionate about providing everyone – from large landowners to people living in apartments – a way to successfully grow their own survival garden.
The seeds sold are all sourced from within the United States, and the vast majority of the seeds have American origins. (There are a few imported seeds offered. That information can be found on the companies website.)
What is a Seed Vault?
Curating a survival seed bank is about more than just collecting a bunch of different seed varieties. It’s about creating a supply of open-pollinated, organic, heirloom seeds.
Why does the type of seed matter in your seed vault?
For the future of your food supply. Remember, these kits are meant to provide you with an ability to grow a survival garden, long-term.
That means the seeds in these kits have been chosen for their history of high germination rates, making them ideal for food production. They are also varieties ideal for saving your own seeds.
So, ideally, year after year, you can grow your own crops and save your seeds for all future gardening.
If a “big survival garden” isn’t your intention, don’t count Survival Garden Seeds out! They are also an excellent source of smaller kits of heirloom, open-pollinated seeds. You can find collections like the Drought Tolerate Vegetable Collection, Medicinal Herb Collection, Kids-Garden Collection, and so many more options! Shop here!
Things to Consider When Shopping Seed Vaults
First, It’s important to take your climate and growing season into consideration when selecting a seed vault.
If you’re not sure of when your growing season is, you can find your USDA Hardiness Zone here. This is the time between your frost dates, when plants are generally grown.
You can order the most well-rounded seed vault there is…but if half of the varieties won’t be able to grow where you live, it’s almost pointless.
Of course, there are a lot of ways to accommodate plant growth in any climate, such as green houses and shade cloth.
Second, you want to make sure that they are open pollinated heirloom varieties for the best seed saving results and long-term production.
Review of Survival Garden Seeds
I received two survival seed kits from Survival Garden Seeds – The Homesteader and The Home Gardener. We will start with my initial thoughts and impressions, followed by the results of the actual use of the seeds, and finally the things you should consider when selecting a vault.
This post will probably be updated several times over the course of the next year or two, since gardening is a long game.
The Value
The initial thing that struck me upon receiving the packages of seeds was the value. In the Homesteader Survival Seed Kit, I received 50 seed varieties. In the Home Garden Survival Kit, I received 30 packs. That’s a lot of seeds!
Based on the current website prices, that comes out to $1 per pack of seeds. Compared to what I’ve paid in the past, this is an excellent price for heirloom, non-gmo seeds.
The Storage
Both of the kits I received came packaged in a resealable mylar bag that I can keep the seeds in. You can use these seeds to start planting now or store them for a future planting date. If stored in a cool dry location, the shelf life of these seeds is several years (even beyond the “plant by date”).
The Variety
There is no shortage of variety in these kits when it comes to vegetable seeds and herb seeds. Everything from summer crops to cool weather crops, medicinal herbs and culinary herbs. There are even flower seeds to help bring in pollinators for your plants.
I didn’t see a seed that I don’t think would work for my climate, although some of the cool weather loving crops may need a little extra care to keep them from bolting.
You can absolutely have a well-rounded survival garden based on the seeds in these packs. You will be able to plant protein packed legumes and hardy vegetables perfect for long term storage (excellent prepper foods).
Grow everything you need for salsas, including fresh herbs. Start your medicinal herb garden and grow tons of vitamin packed leafy greens…all from one seed vault!
Also, I mentioned that I received both the Homesteaders collection and the Home Garden Collection. Both of these collections have different seed varieties, so you can order both and end up with 80 different varieties.
The Seed Packs
The seed packages are similar to any other seed pack. The front shows the variety, while the back has detailed planting instructions.
On the back, you will find a short description of the plant and the fruit produced, followed by germination days, soil temp and sunlight requirements, and planting depth.
The last section on the seed packet includes your seed saving instructions – which is wonderful. Afterall, being able to put away your own storable seeds year after year is the only way you can take more control of your food supply.
The only bit of information missing on the seed packages that I would like to see if the estimated time to grow. As a newer gardener, having the days to grow handy is helpful when planning my season out…especially if I know I’m going to be cutting it close to frost dates. Even though the days to produce are dependent on many variables, I, personally, still like it being on my seed packs.
Are you looking for a helpful guide to planning your garden? My favorite resource for this is the Family Garden Plan – perfect for helping you plan to grow a years worth of food!
Quantity of Seeds
Based on the excellent cost value of the seed packs, I was a little skeptical that each pack would actually contain a decent amount of seeds.
Survival Garden Seeds doesn’t put a seed count on each pack. Instead, they are based on weight. So, I had to do a little more digging to see if they were comparable.
I just so happened to have several packs of seed varieties from other brands as well.
As you can see, the Okra from Survival Garden Seeds ended up with more seeds for less money than a competing, non-organic, brand.
I also compared a pack of “Royalty Purple Pod” beans from Burpee Organic to the Royal Burgundy Beans from Survival Garden Seeds. The weight of the Burpee seed pack was 21g, while the seed pack from Survival was only 13g. But – the cost of the Burpee seeds was $1.50 more compared to the current cost of $1 per pack of seeds in the seed vaults.
The radishes I compared were from another Organic, heirloom seed brand. Although the radish pack from Botanical Interest weighed more – it also cost slightly more.
Overall, it seems like the seed counts in each pack is very comparable to other brands. And when you compare the number of seeds received in relation to the price, it is often a better value.
Do Surival Garden Seeds grow well?
Now everything I said above is pretty much useless if the seeds don’t actually germinate.
At this point of writing my initial review, I am happy to say I’ve had almost a 100% germination rate on seeds.
I am writing this initial review at the end of August. It is still very much HOT here, with days over 100 degrees, but I am getting a little too close to my first frost date to plant too many warm weather crops.
The germination that has failed has been spinach. And that is completely a “user error” because it is still too hot here. But – I had to try it anyways.
Hey – you never know for certain unless you try, right?
Are you ready to order your Survival Seed Kits? Use the code “ROOTED” for 10% off of 3 collections! Shop here!
So here’s what I’ve planted so far for experimental purposes, in containers. At this time, my DIY raised garden beds and in ground garden area for the Spring is under construction, as we’ve recently moved to a new homeplace.
As the weather cools more, I plan on sowing some cool weather seeds (like carrots and spinach). But at this moment, it’s too hot for those things to germinate properly.
- Radishes – excellent germination despite the heat
- Green Beans – 100% germination
- Winter Squash – 100% germination
- Tomatoes – 100% germination
- Peppers – 100% germination
- Spinach – failed germination due to soil temps being too hot
I do plan to update this post with my full Fall garden and again with Summer garden results next year. I have full intentions of using these seeds for almost all my garden planning (with the exception of strawberries and potatoes).
Conclusion
I think that Survival Garden Seed Vault is an excellent choice with affordable pricing for anyone considering starting their own seed vault. Your heirloom seed kit will contain more than enough seeds to grow your own vegetable garden, year after year.
The wide varieties of fruits and vegetables will allow you to plant a valuable garden, full of foods you truly can survive on.
Have you tried Survival Garden Seeds? Let me know what you think down below!
