Gardeners Basics Seed Buying Guide: Survival Kits, Garden Seeds & Pollinator Picks

Buying seeds can be surprisingly complicated.

Some gardeners want a few vegetables for a backyard garden. Others want a large assortment that can support multiple growing seasons, while apartment gardeners may be more interested in compact growing or hydroponic kits. Pollinator gardeners have another set of priorities entirely.

Gardeners Basics offers products across all of these categories, including individual seed packets, heirloom seed assortments, survival seed kits, grow kits, lettuce collections and pollinator-friendly flower seeds.

The key is choosing a seed collection that matches what you actually plan to grow.

This guide explains the main Gardeners Basics options and highlights several products worth considering for vegetable gardens, preparedness, salad gardens and pollinator-friendly spaces.

Affiliate Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, Blog60s may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Editorial Note: Blog60s has not independently conducted controlled germination, yield or long-term seed-storage testing on every product discussed in this guide. Seed counts, varieties, storage claims and other product specifications should be verified on the current product page before purchasing.

Gardeners Basics Seed

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What Does Gardeners Basics Sell?

Gardeners Basics focuses primarily on seeds and home-growing products.

The current catalog includes vegetable seeds, herbs, flowers, survival seed assortments, seed packets, seed starter products and hydroponic kits.

This makes the store relevant to several different types of gardeners.

Someone starting a small backyard vegetable garden may only need a focused assortment.

A homesteader may prefer dozens of open-pollinated varieties.

A preparedness-focused buyer may prioritize long-term organization and variety.

And someone trying to support butterflies or other pollinators may be more interested in native flowering plants.

Before choosing a kit, decide what type of garden you actually want to build.

→ Explore All Gardeners Basics Products

1. Survival Seed Kits

The Survival Seed Kits collection is one of the largest and most distinctive parts of the Gardeners Basics catalog.

These kits emphasize heirloom, non-GMO and open-pollinated varieties, with collections covering vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers depending on the kit.

Current options range from focused 35-variety collections to much larger assortments containing 70, 105 or even 140 varieties.

Who Are Survival Seed Kits For?

Despite the "survival" name, these collections aren't useful only for emergency preparedness.

They can also make sense for:

Homesteaders
Backyard gardeners
Gardeners interested in seed saving
People wanting a broad variety collection
Households building a long-term seed inventory

The advantage is variety.

Instead of purchasing dozens of seed packets individually, you can start with a curated collection.

However, more varieties aren't automatically better.

A 100+ variety kit isn't particularly useful if your available space, climate or growing experience means you'll plant only a small fraction of it.

35-Variety Seed Vault

→ Browse Gardeners Basics Survival Seed Kits

2. Survival Seed Vault Kit – 35 Varieties

For buyers who want a broad vegetable collection without immediately moving to a 70- or 140-variety package, the 35-variety Seed Vault is a logical starting point.

Gardeners Basics currently describes its 35-variety vegetable vault as containing more than 16,000 seeds.

The collection includes crops such as lettuce, carrots and tomatoes, with individually packaged varieties and growing information.

The seeds are marketed as heirloom, non-GMO and open-pollinated.

Why Open-Pollinated Seeds Matter

Open-pollinated varieties can be useful to gardeners interested in saving seeds for future growing seasons.

That doesn't mean successful seed saving happens automatically.

Cross-pollination, isolation distances, plant selection and proper storage can all matter.

But open-pollinated varieties provide a better starting point for seed-saving projects than treating every seed as a one-season purchase.

35-Variety Seed Vault

→ View the 35-Variety Seed Vault Kit

3. Bigger Seed Kits vs Smaller Collections

Gardeners Basics also sells much larger collections.

For example, its current Ultimate Survival Seed Kit combines four 35-variety collections for a total of 140 individually labeled varieties and more than 73,000 seeds, packaged with resealable Mylar bags and an ammo can.

That level of variety is very different from buying a small vegetable assortment.

Before choosing a large kit, consider:

Garden space: Can you realistically grow dozens of different crops?

Climate: Are the included plants appropriate for your growing conditions?

Experience: Will a very large assortment be useful or overwhelming?

Storage: Are you buying primarily to plant now or to store seeds for later?

Seed saving: Do you actually plan to collect and preserve seeds from mature plants?

For many beginners, a focused 35-variety collection may be easier to manage than the largest available kit.

4. Salad Greens and Lettuce Seed Assortment

Not every gardener needs a large survival collection.

A focused salad-green assortment can make more sense if your goal is simply to grow fresh leafy vegetables.

Gardeners Basics offers a 10-variety Salad Greens & Lettuce Seed Assortment designed around this use case.

This type of pack is particularly attractive for gardeners who want diversity without committing space to dozens of unrelated crops.

Why Start With Leafy Greens?

Leafy greens can work well in:

Raised beds
Traditional garden rows
Smaller backyard plots
Containers
Some indoor growing systems

Exact planting requirements vary by variety and local conditions, so follow the instructions provided for each seed type.

Succession planting can also help spread harvesting over a longer period rather than planting the entire assortment at once.

Salad Greens 10 Variety Pack

→ View the 10-Variety Salad Greens & Lettuce Seed Assortment

5. Grow Kits and Hydroponic Gardening

Seeds aren't the only consideration when starting a garden.

New gardeners may also need containers, seed-starting supplies or a growing system.

Gardeners Basics has a dedicated collection for seed and hydroponic grow kits, making it a useful section for shoppers who want something more structured than packets of seeds alone.

When Does a Grow Kit Make Sense?

A grow kit can be particularly useful if:

You're new to gardening
Outdoor space is limited
You want to start seeds indoors
You're interested in hydroponic growing
You prefer a more organized starting setup

Before purchasing, check exactly what the kit includes.

Don't assume that every grow kit includes seeds, nutrients, lights or every other component needed for a complete indoor garden.

Milkweed 4 Variety Pack

→ Browse Seed & Hydroponic Grow Kits

6. Milkweed Seeds for Monarch Butterflies

A garden doesn't have to focus entirely on food production.

Gardeners Basics also offers a Milkweed Seeds for Monarch Butterflies – 4 Native Varieties pack. The product is currently featured among the company's heirloom seed assortments.

Milkweed is particularly notable because monarch caterpillars depend on milkweed as their host plant.

That makes milkweed different from simply adding a decorative flower to the garden.

Choose Milkweed With Location in Mind

This is one area where buying seeds requires more than choosing an attractive package.

Different milkweed species have different native ranges and growing requirements.

Before planting, determine which included variety is appropriate for your region.

Local native-plant organizations, extension services and conservation resources can be useful for confirming appropriate species.

Larger Survival Kit

→ View Gardeners Basics Milkweed Seeds

7. Building a Pollinator-Friendly Garden

Milkweed can be one component of a broader pollinator garden.

Gardeners Basics also offers annual and perennial flower collections.

Its current 35-variety flower assortment includes plants such as sunflowers, baby's breath, black-eyed Susans and marigolds, according to the company's collection information.

But a pollinator garden shouldn't be designed around variety count alone.

Consider bloom timing, local climate, native species, sunlight and available space.

Ideally, different plants should provide flowers across multiple parts of the growing season.

Grow/Hydroponic Kit

8. Heirloom, Non-GMO and Open-Pollinated: What Do These Terms Mean?

These terms appear frequently throughout the Gardeners Basics catalog, so understanding them makes shopping easier.

Heirloom

"Heirloom" generally refers to plant varieties that have been maintained across generations.

There isn't one universal age threshold used in every context, so the term shouldn't be interpreted as a precise performance specification.

Non-GMO

Gardeners Basics markets these collections as non-GMO.

For home gardeners, this describes how the seed varieties are positioned rather than telling you whether a particular crop will perform well in your garden.

Open-Pollinated

Open-pollinated plants reproduce through natural pollination.

With appropriate isolation and seed-saving practices, gardeners may be able to save seeds while retaining the characteristics of a variety.

Gardeners Basics specifically emphasizes open-pollinated seeds across its survival collections.

9. Don't Choose a Seed Kit by Seed Count Alone

Large numbers look impressive.

A kit containing tens of thousands of seeds sounds automatically better than one containing a few thousand.

But total seed count can be misleading when used by itself.

Different crops naturally have very different seed sizes and planting requirements.

A packet containing hundreds of tiny lettuce seeds isn't directly comparable with a packet containing a much smaller number of large bean or pea seeds.

The more useful questions are:

Which varieties are included?

Will they grow in my climate?

Do I have enough space?

Will my household actually eat these crops?

Do I want to save seeds?

Can I store unused seeds properly?

Variety selection usually matters more than chasing the largest number printed on a package.

10. Consider Your USDA Hardiness Zone

Climate is one of the most important variables in gardening.

A seed can be perfectly viable and still perform poorly if planted at the wrong time or under unsuitable conditions.

Before planting, consider:

Local frost dates
Growing-season length
Soil temperature
Sun exposure
Rainfall and irrigation
Heat tolerance
Cold tolerance

For perennial plants and native flowers, regional suitability becomes especially important.

Seed kits provide options, but they don't eliminate the need to plan around local growing conditions.

11. How to Store Unused Seeds

If you buy a large seed collection, you probably won't plant everything immediately.

Storage therefore matters.

As a general gardening principle, seeds tend to store better in conditions that are cool, dry and protected from large temperature and humidity swings.

Gardeners Basics uses moisture-resistant or Mylar-style storage in several of its larger collections and markets certain kits specifically for longer-term organization and storage.

However, long-term viability depends on the crop, initial seed quality and storage conditions.

Avoid treating any shelf-life figure as a guarantee that every seed will germinate after that period.

12. Survival Seeds vs Everyday Garden Seeds

There doesn't need to be a strict divide between a "survival garden" and an everyday vegetable garden.

Many of the same crops can serve both purposes.

The bigger difference is usually the buying strategy.

An everyday gardener might purchase only the tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and herbs needed for the coming season.

Someone interested in preparedness may prefer a broader collection with many individually packaged open-pollinated varieties stored for future planting.

Gardeners Basics serves both approaches.

→ Browse Survival Seed Kits

Which Gardeners Basics Product Fits Your Garden?

For a broad vegetable collection without jumping to the largest kits, consider the 35-Variety Seed Vault.

→ Shop the 35-Variety Seed Vault

For lettuce and salad-focused growing, the 10-Variety Salad Greens & Lettuce Assortment is the more targeted option.

→ Shop the Salad Greens & Lettuce Assortment

For pollinator gardening, consider the 4-Variety Milkweed collection, after confirming that the varieties are appropriate for your region.

→ Shop Milkweed Seeds

For gardeners who want a more structured growing setup:

→ Browse Seed & Hydroponic Grow Kits

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Gardeners Basics survival seeds heirloom?

Gardeners Basics describes its survival seed collections as heirloom, non-GMO, non-hybrid and open-pollinated.

How many varieties are in the Seed Vault Kit?

The featured Survival Seed Vault contains 35 varieties and is currently described as containing more than 16,000 seeds.

Does Gardeners Basics sell larger seed kits?

Yes. Current collections include 70-, 105- and 140-variety options. The 140-variety kit contains more than 73,000 seeds according to the current product page.

Does Gardeners Basics sell seeds for pollinator gardens?

Yes. Its catalog includes milkweed and other flower seeds.

Does Gardeners Basics sell individual seed packets?

Yes. The All Products catalog includes individual garden seed packets alongside larger assortments and grow products.

Final Thoughts

Gardeners Basics offers several very different ways to start or expand a garden.

The Survival Seed Kits are suited to shoppers looking for broad collections of heirloom, open-pollinated varieties.

The 35-Variety Seed Vault provides a more manageable entry point than the largest collections.

The Salad Greens assortment focuses on a specific type of edible garden, while the Milkweed collection serves a very different goal: supporting a pollinator-oriented planting plan.

The best option isn't necessarily the package containing the most seeds.

Start with your available space, climate, gardening goals and the plants you realistically expect to grow.

Then choose the seed collection that fits those conditions.