Every year that I garden I realize so much more just how important heirloom plants are. I know that I’m carrying on a legacy and helping to keep a variety of plant alive another year. Some of these plants are considered in danger of extinction by Slow Food USA via the Ark of Taste.
Take the Cherokee Trail of Tears for example. This one I find close to my heart since we live in former Cherokee land.
The Cherokee Trail of Tears bean memorializes the forced relocation of the Cherokee Indians in the mid-nineteenth century. They carried this bean throughout this infamous walk, which became the death march for thousands of Cherokees; hence the Trail of Tears.’*
All heirlooms have a little story behind them, whether they were the county fair winner 70 years ago or have a tremendous impact on the lives of a people like the Trail of Tears bean. We even try to “grow” heritage chickens to keep the lineage going for another few years.
Some may call me a plant snob (including Hubby), but I’m fine by that. When I plant heirlooms I’m free to save my own seed without fear of losing any of the original plant’s qualities as you can with hybrids. I know that my tomato plants will be disease resistant and have great flavor. I also know that I’m avoiding GMOs and will avoid repercussion from any companies by saving seed legally or illegally.
If you plan to save seed, avoid any hybrids. I’ve made plenty of mistakes myself. I’ve bought plants thinking I was purchasing an heirloom, only to find it was an F1 hybrid. Ack. You can’t save seed from an F1 hybrid because the resulting seedlings will not come true to seed. I bought turkeys thinking they were an heirloom breed, but they’re a hybrid and grow too big to reproduce naturally (and I am not about to assist them). Besides, turkey’s don’t require a paintbrush to reproduce as most open-pollinated plants do….
Do you grow heirloom or rare plants in your gardens?
You can also find me blarging away at Unearthing this Life where I ramble about living with a dozen chicken, 3 guinea, and 3 turkey – and I’m not referring to family.
Not Dabbling In Normal 
Last year was the first year that everything in my garden was grown from heirloom seed. It was wonderful. When I give people a tour of the garden, it lasts a little longer than they may like, because I have to tell them the stories. I always tell the history behind the seeds, I tell about the Cherokee Trail of Tears and Mayflower beans and Mortgage Lifter and many others. I love my seeds, where they came from, the plants that them become, and the deliciousness that they produce.
That’s fabulous! I can’t wait until the day that I get to 100%. And even more impressive is remembering each story behind the seeds!
I grow 99% heirloom. There’s a few hybrids I haven’t found replacements for yet, but eventually hope to have all heirlooms.
This is a great post. I’d never thought of hierlooms this way.
I’m not one to turn up my nose at a good hybrid like Better Boy toms, but open pollinated plants and stable hybrids (which is what heirlooms are), are our patrimony. We might as well propagate all our children as clones, as lose this precious heritage.
You are correct, Ms. Master Gardener. Heirlooms are stable hybrids that have been able to withstand years and years of unstable weather patterns, weeds, other OP plants, disease, and so forth, and still taste great! Why would we opt for a younger variety without the test of time? I’m sure some of our modern hybrids, maybe even Better Boy, will some day become an heirloom, but I’ll still do my best to avoid those that are mysterious clones with the same color eyes, hair, and so forth.
Glad to see someone else is a seed snob…I love crazy named tomatoes especially.
Box Car Willy is my fave name this year!
From one “seed snob” to another. This is my second year planting all heirloom seeds. Last year was the first year saving seed and as I’ve started to plant I’ve had abundant success. I love the idea that I am in charge of much of my food. I love the fact that these seeds have been planted for generations and they have a history.
I grow both heirlooms and hybrids. I love heirlooms, but am willing to grow hybrids for things that I don’t save seed from – especially when they will produce in my short season in New England. I’ve been growing Trail of Tears for a few years now and passing it out to whoever will take the seed in the fall.
I do think that saving seed from F1 hybrids isn’t a bad thing though. Yes they aren’t true, but sometimes you find interesting plants. This year I’m going to grow an F4 of Sungold (that I’ve been growing out) since I love that particular hybrid so much along side a true Sungold. I might end up back crossing them to make make the progeny more alike. I really don’t have space in my urban environment to do breeding experiments, but little projects are sometimes fun.
Ooh, I do love a good challenge and and experiment! I’ve had volunteer tomatoes come up that I’ve kept just to see how well they do. And you’re right, they are a blast! For me, as long as I’m aware ahead of time that I shouldn’t expect the same results as the parent plant then I’m happy to play along.
Many of my decorative plants are just that: experiments. A lot have gone to seed and self-sown, and each successive generation changes just a little more. My in-laws have a great example of this with a 100 year old grouping of hyacinths that have receded back to their species! It took us a very long time to figure out just exactly what the plants were!
Great post. I love gardening and although I have not always been able to have an actual garden in the ground, we have managed to have smaller ‘gardens’ in pots. I love the heirloom seeds and can remember as a child my grandparents would always talk about the importance of the heirloom varieties that they could always count on year after year and even though they liked some of the ‘new’ plants(hybrids) and tried them out sometimes, they always had their good seeds on hand ready to plant. My goal is to have mainly heirlooms and to companion plant my yard and use the gardens as our landscaping…lots to aspire to.
Thanks for the post
Michelle
You hit on a very important subject. So many gardeners forget to companion plant, or have forgotten what it is, thanks to ::cough:: miracle products that over-saturate your plants with fertilizers. Feed your plants, sure! But don’t kill your soil when doing so.
I’m glad to hear that you grandparents passed down such a wonderful and important lesson!
You made my day with the turkey joke 🙂
I plant heirlooms because if I want to save the seeds I know I can. I told my hubby that the heirloom potato seeds would be here soon and he said, “Why? Can’t you just plant the bag of russets we have in the house?” I guess I am falling in the seed snob area, lol.
Too funny! I’ve been working on my hubby for several years now. The next battle is where to get topsoil from! Arg.
Yep, I am growing heirloom ‘Dragon’ Carrots this year! (plus a few others) great photos here, thanks for sharing.
One of the reasons I love heirlooms is because you can breed them for your specific climate as well. This year I’m saving seed from some arugula that managed to survive the winter. I’ll replant those this coming fall and then save seed again for the ones that survive the winter – in a few years I’ll have a variety of arugula that is perfect for my winter climate!
I also love that the plants have such a rich history behind them – it really helps ground you.
Although hybrids may be more bountiful producers, think again about using them. After all we don’t want to be replaced by newer, younger, faster models when we get older & slower do we?
So true. I’ve got a Black Krim that I’ve been saving seeds from for nearly 10 years. What started out as a meh plant in my microclimate is now giving me huge yields.
I only grow heirlooms. I find they resist many problems other people’s hybrids face. I especially love my 9-12 inch Zapotec tomatoes: they make brilliant tomato paste! I am the only one here in my area that never suffers from tomato blight…
When you hold a heritage seed in your hand, you are looking at years and years of “intelligence” inside. When you alter a seed through hybridization and genetic modification, you lose the years those seeds have gone through to adapt and sustain life.
We humans are in such a hurry! Grow faster. Grow bigger. But we fail to witness the perfection of what is given to us without our intervention. The corporations can continue to alter seeds all they want: it will never change the inherent desire the seed has to re-adapt. What you resist, persists.