With some of those seed packets, they’re going to be astonished at how little is in there. I’m not sure about the “survival seed buckets”, but most of the packets sold in catalogs don’t contain enough for a survival garden. The average for a packet of tomato seeds these days seems to be 12 seeds per packet, sounds like a lot until you’re living off them. I know people who grow 40 varieties of tomatoes each year. Not 40 plants, 40 varieties! You want a 50-foot row of beans? One of my bean packets contained 18 seeds. And if you’re saving seed from your own corn, it’s recommended to save from at least 100 different plants to maintain genetic integrity. How many corn seeds are in a packet? 20? 30? A large packet I opened last year had 40 seeds, and not all of them grew.
After studying plant breeding, I’m changing the way I do my inventories. Some plants are fine if you save seed from only one plant each year, but others will die out if you do that. I’m planning to order more of that corn variety, among other things.