This time of year, I cut the dried seedheads of the zinnias in my garden and save them to plant next spring. I’ve been saving and replanting these seeds for 29 summers now, and I got the first seeds from my mother, who had been saving them every year since she planted her first garden in 1960.
Several years ago, my dad’s friend got some tomato seeds from an Amish woman while on a business trip to Pennsylvania. He planted the seeds and gave me one of the tomatoes. I saved the seeds and grew tomatoes from them the next year, saved more seeds, and then continued to grow the tomatoes and save seeds ever since.
Just like the treasured items I keep that belonged to my grandparents, the zinnia and tomato seeds are considered heirlooms.
There are heated arguments as to what makes a particular plant an heirloom. Some insist a plant has to have been in existence for 100 years; others say 50 years; others set 1945, the end of WWII, as the cutoff date; yet others declare 1951 when widespread introduction of the first hybrid varieties took place.
All agree that heirlooms must be open-pollinated, which is pollination by insects, birds, wind, or other natural mechanisms. Seeds collected from open-pollinated plants produce offspring exactly like the parent plant. In contrast, seeds collected from hybrid plants like ‘Early Girl’ tomatoes, ‘Blue Lake’ pole beans, ‘Rocket’ snapdragons, and ‘Majestic Giant’ pansies may revert to one of the parent plants that were crossed in their development, producing a tasteless, unattractive, disease-prone plant.
Why would someone prefer to grow an heirloom over new and improved hybrids? Several reasons.
• They adapt over time to the climate and soils in which they’ve been grown, making them more resistant to local pests, diseases and weather extremes.
• Heirlooms taste better! Hybridizers sometimes choose disease resistance and heavy yields over taste.
• There is a much wider variety to choose from. Seed Savers Exchange, a non-profit that works to preserve heirloom plants, offered 74 varieties of tomatoes in their 2012 catalog!
• Saving and growing seeds of heirloom crops ensures that these plants don’t become extinct. A diversity of crops protects against large crop failures.
• Save money! You don’t have to buy seeds every year. You can trade seeds with other heirloom gardeners to get even more variety in your garden.
• Heirloom vegetables are often harvested over a long period so you can pick what you need each day rather than harvesting a hundred pounds of produce all at once.
• Heirloom flowers, fruits and vegetables are a connection to the past. When I look at my bed of beautiful zinnias, I feel the same warm tie to yesteryear that I do when I use Grandma Koch’s potato masher or Grandma Woehlke’s clothespins.
If you don’t have personal heirloom seeds or plants in your family, they are available from specialty seed suppliers and increasingly from the major seed companies. You can start the tradition!
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