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In line with that, I was wondering how long seeds would remain viable. I have older seeds and am surprised at how old they are and can still grow.

Anyways, I found this........................

A commonly asked question is how long will the seeds remain viable?

Much of seed viability depends upon storage conditions.
The ideal storage condition for seeds is somewhere cool and dry.

For many homeowners a capped jar in the refrigerator serves the purpose.
Just looking at the seed will often give an indication of seed quality.

For seeds that are usually smooth and round or plump, they will not germinate well if they are pocked or wrinkled.

Peas, corn, and many other seeds are normally wrinkled but may not look as good as they should.

How long will vegetable seeds last if stored properly?
Seed and(Viability in Years)

Asparagas (3),
Muskmelons (5),
Beans (3),
Onions (1),
Beets (4),
Peas (3),
Broccoli (5),
Peppers (2),
Cabbage (5),
Pumpkins (4),
Carrots (3),
Radishes (5),
Cauliflower (5),
Spinach (5),
Corn (2),
Squash (4),
Cucumbers (5),
Tomatoes (4),
Lettuce (5),
Watermelons (4),

Source : Iowa State Extension

https://hortnews.extension.iastate.edu/1995/3-3-1995/seedv.html

I am saving heirloom onion seeds.

Last year I bought Stuttgarter onion sets and wow, did those keep well. So I let a bunch of them go to seed and meanwhile made little bags out of tulle or camping netting and put a drawstring on them.

It serves two purposes. It isolates the two different kinds of onions I have and the bags will collect the seeds when they mature.

The reason for isolating them is that I didn’t want hybridization from cross pollination. So when the red onions flowered first, I let them be and bagged the flower heads of the Stuttgarter. After a couple weeks, when the Stuttgarter started opening up, I then put bags on the red onions, waited a couple days and then took them off the Stuttgarter onions so they could be pollinated.

The poor bees though, just didn’t know what to do with the mesh bags. They sure gave it the old college try, though, trying to get to the flowers.

I later found out that you can buy these bags online as blossom bags. It was cheaper to make them and I like to sew anyways.

I also plan on using them on tomatoes next year. I have plans to plant a couple different varieties and since tomatoes essentially self-pollinate, you bag up the flower cluster and let them do that. When the fruit begins to set, you can remove the bag but must label them so you know which ones are the pure variety.

Anything in your house that would typically need replacing in whatever time span you want to prep for. Anything that disappeared from stores last Spring is a good starting point.

The most common items are every day stuff that you shop for regularly but can extend out to things like shoes. I save my old work boots and my shoe size hasn’t changed in 35 years. I could use 100 pair of socks though. LOL

I’ve been meaning to put some sort of list together based on order of importance and/or length of shtf event.

Then there’s things like utilities, communications, defense, meds and first aid supplies.
I bought seeds last year but ended up being too busy finishing the perimeter because I bought meat goats with covid stimulus check. Bought more seeds this year but need to build a good fence around the garden area still as it’s inside the perimeter fence with the goats. At least I’m stocked up on seeds though and I buy strictly heirloom. Most come from rareseeds.com aka Baker Creek. They’re in MO as am I so I know they’re acclimated to this climate.

If you have a septic tank you will want to stock up on bacteria treatment for the tank.

Also be able to do basic maintenance on your septic and well systems.

Now is the time to learn.

Before you have any issues.