Heirloom Seeds: The Seeds of Life

It is time to buy your seeds, before the catalogs run out of their supply! Consider buying heirloom seeds, considered by environmentalists to be the seeds of life. Just what is an heirloom seed?

Vegetable varieties which predate the current seed production and food distribution systems we have in this country are called heirlooms. Many gardeners feel that an heirloom vegetable is one that has been grown for more than 100 years, but I think that a better cutoff point would be 1950. Immediately after World War II, agriculture and gardening in America underwent enormous changes, and the current system was born in that period. The widespread adoption of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the development of hybrid vegetables, the completion of rural electrification, improvements in refrigeration and our interstate transportation system, suburban destruction of urban fringe market gardens: all these changes were part of a trend that resulted in the current national—rather than regional—character of our American mass culture and agriculture. This trend was born and developed in the decades on both sides of World War II.

Before our current period, vegetable seed companies were smaller and often grew their own seed, which was regionally adapted to the climate of the area in which the company was located. In fact, many seedsmen started out as market gardeners and simply moved into selling seed they had saved for their own use. As their businesses developed, they collected choice varieties from other gardeners—who had selected their own favorite strains—and by close attention maintained them as distinct varieties. Unlike modern vegetable introductions, all of which are deliberately developed for sale, these heirloom varieties were simply selected over generations according to the whims and preferences of individual gardeners. Thus, most are strongly adapted to a particular region of the country, and have an incredible range of qualities—in taste, texture, appearance, and disease or pest resistance—all of which were, for one reason or another, important to their backyard developers.

Of the thousands of regional heirlooms a relatively small number eventually become standards, and many of our modern hybrids owe part of their parentage to them. Some of these old standards are still available today, though the reselection and propagation of any variety subtly changes its nature over time. Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage and Bibb lettuce are two heirloom varieties that come to mind immediately.

Read more: Nature, Lawns & Gardens

Adapted from Straight-Ahead Organic,by Shepherd Ogden. Copyright (c)1992, 1999 by Shepherd Ogden. Reprinted by permission of Chelsea Green Publishing Company.
Adapted from Straight-Ahead Organic,by Shepherd Ogden

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
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Danuta W.

12:32AM PDT on Apr 30, 2012

Thanks for posting.

send a green star

Sh C.

9:38AM PDT on Apr 29, 2012

thank you

Dale O.

8:21PM PDT on Apr 20, 2012

Delightful, so very tasty these are from such marvellous seeds!

Jennifer C.

5:37PM PDT on Mar 14, 2012

Thanks for this article.

Teresa W.

3:09AM PST on Mar 4, 2012

interesting

3:08AM PST on Mar 4, 2012

Linda is right.

Linda J.

10:57PM PST on Mar 2, 2012

Do not buy Monsanto, Dow or any GMO seeds, they have poison in them so that weeds will not grow and make cancer grow in humans - also the seeds of the veggies will not be able to be planted the next season - the GMO process means that you and the farmers have to buy new seeds every year from Monsanto and Dow, at whatever price they choose to charge

DobieMax W.

10:43AM PDT on May 12, 2011

Noted

Elizabeth M.

1:47PM PST on Feb 17, 2011

Thank You for the useful information once again Annie B. I started saving seeds several years ago and have some flower seeds that all I have to do is throw them into the ground and in the fall pick off the seed heads, let them dry and save for the next year. I want to now plant pots with vegetables and will look for heritage seeds and try to save some for the next years crop.Some seeds have to be put in the bottom of the refrigerator from Dec. to March and others don't. I learned that putting seeds in water and the ones floating on top are good, and ones that sink will not yield.

KS G.

4:30AM PST on Feb 8, 2011

Thanks for the article.