If you have been a member of the disaster preparedness community for any time, you no doubt have heard about heirloom seeds. Smart preppers prepare well ahead of time, and beginning a backyard garden with heirloom seeds as your centerpiece is smart for a lot of reasons. Let’s take a look at 5 reasons why heirloom seeds are the gardening choice of seasoned disaster preparedness gurus and experts and how they can easily provide you with a healthy and fresh long term emergency food supply if necessary.  Low cost and easy storage make this type of emergency food accessible by anyone.

1 – Foods grown from heirloom seeds provide more vitamins, minerals and nutrients than their commercially grown counterparts.

The fruits and vegetables you currently eat are probably from a commercial supplier. Where do they get their seeds? From commercial seed suppliers. In many cases, you’re eating genetically modified (GM) foods, and do not even know it. Mechanized picking, a tolerance to problematic weather and pesticides, and the ability to look good after cross-country shipping – these are all character traits of seeds which have been chosen, and not because of their nutritional benefits.  If you are not aware of the dangers of GMO foods, read more about that here: Institute for Responsible Technology

2 – Heirloom foods just taste better.

Find an heirloom tomato. Then go purchase the tomato you usually buy from your local supermarket or grocery. Wash them and prepare them in your favorite way. You do not have to be a taste testing expert to recognize that your heirloom tomato tastes many times better than the one you have been eating. The same is true with other food products grown from heirloom seeds as well. That natural, mouthwatering goodness and flavor cannot be matched by foods which are grown primarily for their ability to last longer on the shelf because they are pumped full of preservatives and chemicals.

3 – Heirloom plants provide reproductive heirloom seeds.

Most people, preppers and “normal” citizens, do not understand that the seeds produced by most commercially grown fruits and vegetables are worthless. First off, those types of foods which are chemically treated and commercially harvested produce less seeds than heirloom plants. And most genetically modified foods produce seeds which can not reproduce. Because heirloom seeds are open pollinated, the food they grow will continue to produce usable seed for you year after year.

4 – Heirloom seeds are less expensive over time.

Because you can plant heirloom seeds one time, reap their harvest, take those seeds and grow still more plants, your cost for heirloom seeds is always heading toward “zero”. Heirloom seeds are more expensive than other types of seeds up front. But over time, and with each continual season that you reap the wonderful bounty of this natural seed, your savings continue to grow.

5 – You enjoy a year-round harvest.

Hybrids and genetically programmed foods grow at an incredibly predictable pace. This is important, so companies and commercial farmers can harvest all of their product at once. However, home gardeners, homesteaders and preppers benefit from fresh produce delivered year-round. Heirloom seeds and plants deliver a fresh supply of delicious, nutritious fruits and vegetables all year long.

(Bonus heirloom seed benefit # 6 – Heirloom seed choice is incredible. Heirloom tomato varieties alone number more than 4,000! When you choose heirloom seeds, your choice is nearly limitless.)