Why Heirlooms Are Important

Wikipedia indicates an heirloom plant "is a cultivar that was commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but which is not used in modern large-scale agriculture."

What we call heirlooms plants were the standard years ago. Brandywine tomatoes were common 50 to 75 years ago. One hundred forty years ago, sweet corn was planted and harvested.

The difference is that somewhere between then and now, we have lost many varieties...many. Here's a graph a blog on extension.org which tells the story well:

What you see is the change in the number of varieties from 1903 to 1983 in each type plant versus. We have lost many varieties, never to come back again. They are extinct.

Existing heirlooms are making somewhat of a rise starting in farmers markets and now in some grocery stores. Some are unusual looking. If all you have seen are round red tomatoes, you might not know what to make of green zebra tomatoes.

Professional growers like predictable product they can sell. Tomatoes, for example, are usually picked green and gassed to make them red. Thus their flavor is often not as good as heirlooms you might buy at a farmers market.

Heirlooms are important because they are a part of heritage to pass down. If it's not preserved and valued, the only food available is what producers and growers find most reliable and easiest.

Where to Buy Seeds and Plants

People ask me where I buy my seeds and plants.

First let's look at trees. If you're going to plant trees for an edible landscape, which I recommend, take a look at what Forrest Kelling Nursery offers. They use a patented method—called RPM—to enhance survivability, viability,
faster growth, and higher yield of trees. Their trees have a 95% survival rate after 20 years! That's incredible. That's where I'm getting my PawPaw trees this fall. The picture to the left shows you the difference after 210 days of one of their trees (left) compared to a regular nursery tree (right). Need I say more?


For economy, I purchase and grow seeds. I actually find it hard to believe people buy tomato plants with tomatoes on the plant for $12 when $12 worth of tomatoes is all they will likely get off that plant. Yes, it's a little more time and attention, but you know what you're getting and how they grown.

I recommend seeds from three different places so far. Baker Seed Co. is active in the Open Pollinated community and only sells heirloom vegetable seeds. They are knowledgeable and nice. The Seed Savers Exchange is a national treasure of maybe thousands of of different open pollinated seeds from the world over. The next place may be a surprise, but the economical decision is a no-brainer. In the spring, my local WalMart offers 20 cent seeds packets. Many of the varieties are from names you would recognize but relabeled. I found several of the 20 cent seeds were heirloom varieties - the same type you might buy for many times the price and I have had good luck with them. However, they are only available in the spring.

Summer veggies are producing but it's already time to start planning what to plant in the fall garden.