A lot has changed since this thread started. I was out looking at seeds on the rack this week. My knowledge of non-hybrid seeds is somewhat limited, even though I have had some fabulous gardens in places where I formerly lived. I wasn't worried about economic survival in those days, just wanted fresh vegetables. My concern now is what seeds can I store that would be the basis of an emergency garden that was 'defensible'. By that I mean, even though I love leafy greens, tomatoes and melons as much as the next person, how would I prevent that type of crop from being stolen by those who didn't plan ahead for economic strife? Greens, and tomatoes have no shelf life without canning, so some starchy staple crop would be necessary. During the depression, people lived on turnips, rutabegas, fat carrots, onions and potatoes. I'm thinking that these root crops may be harder to identify from the road and steal than tomatoes, squash, melons, etc. They would also keep well into the winter, and parsnips can overwinter in the ground to harvest in the spring. How do you identfy and store non-hybid seeds of the starchy root crops for a potential lawn-garden?