Heirlooms: An Old Story with Hope for the Future

What's an Heirloom?

Heirloom vegetables are open-pollinated varieties that were either commercially introduced before 1940 or handed down through friends and family for at least 50 years.

If you grow only one variety of an heirloom plant in your garden (keeping it separate from other kinds so that it doesn't cross-pollinate with any other varieties) you can save seeds and grow plants that are the same from year to year.

Heirlooms are different in this way from hybrids. Hybrids are grown from cross-pollinating different varieties of plants. Hybrid seeds are what you most commonly find in nurseries and seed catalogs. Hybrid seeds do not stay "true to type" if you save seeds from them and try grow them the following year - instead, each plant in that second generation will be different, and may not be very tasty or grow very well.

Why Should I Grow Heirlooms?

Aside from the convenience of being able to save seed from year to year, many varieties of heirlooms also taste better than the varieties that are grown for the mass market. For example, many heirloom tomatoes are not suited to large scale production because they cannot be harvested mechanically or transported long distances to market. The reason they are not suited to large scale production is because their large, juicy, flavorful fruits are too soft to be picked mechanically, and they ripen over long periods of time instead of all at once - making them ideal for home gardeners.

Also, if a hybrid variety was grown for years in one locality, they have adapted to the climate and soil conditions of that area and may out produce other hybrid varieties, or greater disease and insect resistance.

Another vital reason for growing heirloom varieties is that heirloom plants represent a vast and diverse pool of genetic characteristics – one that will be lost forever if these plants are allowed to become extinct.

Lastly - growing heirlooms is fun, especially for kids! It's such a novelty to bite into a luscious, great tasting green tomato, such as Aunt Ruby's German Green, or see the strange-shaped pink fruits of Zapotec Pleated growing on your vines. And serving a platter of these beautiful, unusual vegetables is fun for entertaining as well.

There are lots of seed companies that sell heirloom seeds (several are listed below.) And if you're looking for heirloom tomato and vegetable seedlings that are ready for planting, our Mother's Day weekend Plant Sale always has a great selection! Forget those tasteless supermarket varieties and try something new and wonderful in your garden this year.

Resources:

1. How to Grow More Vegetables, John Jeavons

2. Rodales Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening, F.M. Bradley, B.W. Ellis

3. Seed to Seed, Suzanne Ashworth

4. DeMuth, Suzanne P. A Guide to Heirloom Varieties and Community-Based Stewardship, Volume 1, Annotated Bibliography, National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/AFSIC_pubs/heirloom/heirloom.htm

5. Slow Food USA http://www.slowfoodusa.org/index.php/programs/details/ark_of_taste/

Seed Companies That Sell Heirlooms

1. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds http://rareseeds.com/

2. Johnny's Selected Seeds http://www.johnnyseeds.com/default.aspx

3. Native Seeds \ S.E.A.R.C.H. (Southwestern Endangered Aridland Resources Clearing House) http://www.nativeseeds.org/ Specializing in crops and native plants of the southwestern U.S.

4. Pinetree Garden Seeds https://www.superseeds.com/ (They sell small packets of seeds that are affordable for the small-space gardener.)

5. Seeds of Change http://www.seedsofchange.com/

6. Seed Savers Exchange http://www.seedsavers.org/

7. And many others!