All food starts with seeds – even the meat we consume. This is worth remembering as times get scary and people start thinking in terms of the basics. What is more basic than food? Are we really willing to place ourselves at the mercy of a worsening economy, and an increasingly over-burdened retail food supply system? If not, now is a good time to acquire a large stock of cheap seeds and start a garden of whatever size is reasonable.

The trends we’re discussing help explain why “urban homesteading” is becoming a very common practice. An increasing number of urban dwellers are buying cheap seeds – as well as more expensive heirloom varieties – and growing at least some of what they eat. Vegetable and herb gardens are springing up in many cities. Chicken farms are becoming increasingly common. Some city dwellers are even starting worm farms – which help prepare the soil for planting – and diligently feeding them table leftovers, thereby creating a neat little cycle of self-sufficiency.

The best way to build a self-supporting farm of any size is to select non-hybrid, non-GMO organic heirloom bulk seeds. These aren’t necessarily cheap seeds, but they are very desirable and worth a little extra. Preserved in their purity from a time prior to widespread use of pesticides and herbicides, heirloom bulk seeds aren’t the product of genetic tinkering by some well-meaning corporate scientist. They can be collected and re-used for generations without diminished yield or nutritional benefit. And, most importantly, they grow into food that actually tastes like food, with full-bodied flavor, delectable texture, and full-spectrum nutritional benefits.

What heirloom bulk seeds should you select? Well, the easiest answer would be “All of them” – vegetables and fruits of all kinds and colors. Fast food is inexpensive, but that doesn’t mean it’s cheap, since it costs a lot in the long run; why not buy some cheap seeds, defer instant gratification, and enjoy the health benefits of something you’ve grown, rather than been handed through a drive-through window?
In terms of nutritional density – protein and fiber content in particular – beans are hard to beat for someone looking to build up a large storehouse of cheap seeds. Cultivated for millennia in the Western Hemisphere, and even used by some Indian cultures as money, beans are are inexpensive, easy to grow, simple to store, and hard to mess up even by the least talented cook. All varieties of beans – from pintos to navy beans, from green beans to string beans – can be prepared in delicious, colorful meals. Planting beans next to other garden staples such as squash and corn – which are also good choices for your bulk seeds collection — will get an urban homestead off on a good start.