Bringing the Past to Life - Heirloom Vegetable Seeds

The movement towards growing heirloom vegetables is on the rise, with many vegetable gardening enthusiasts seeing the advantage in keeping these varieties alive. Previously it was hard to purchase heirloom vegetable seeds from anyone other than other growers, but there are now more companies specializing in heirloom vegetables. Many of the companies supplying vegetable seeds are the commercial arms of museums and seed conservation organizations.

The advantages to growing heirloom vegetables are many. One of the greatest benefits is the taste – growers of heirloom tomatoes would tell you that you haven’t tasted a real tomato until you have tried an heirloom variety, and that their tomatoes are as resistant, if not more so, to tomato disease despite modern manipulation and selection techniques.

Enthusiasts of other heirloom vegetables would have much the same story to tell – heirloom vegetables have a great taste, are often more disease resistant than modern varieties, and sometimes have a better chance of providing viable seeds than their modern counterparts.

Continuing a Tradition

Growing heirloom vegetables from seed provides more than just a crop of healthy and delicious vegetables. By growing heirloom varieties you are helping to keep disappearing varieties of vegetables from extinction. By keeping the seeds from your vegetables once they are harvested, you can perpetuate this part of history, growing your own multiple generations of heirloom vegetables!

If conservation is one of your core reasons for considering heirloom vegetables, there are many organizations dedicated to preserving heirloom vegetable varieties and making their seeds available to vegetable gardeners. Often these organizations will be able to offer help with propagation, and disease and pest control.

There are also many seed companies that now sell via the internet that can supply seeds for heirloom varieties, often also providing information on heirloom vegetables and organic gardening.

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