What Is An Heirloom Seed?

Sorry, but there is no "exact" definition for this term. In fact, there still is no agreement between gardeners as to what constitutes an heirloom and what does not.

What everyone does agree on is: Heirlooms are always open-pollinated varieties. This means that if the seeds produced from the plant are properly saved, they will produce the same variety year after year. This cannot be done with hybrids, which are a cross between two separate varieties, as the seed produced from those plants will either be sterile, or start to revert back to the parent plants. Supposedly there is no exact definition for the term heirloom. However, there are many characteristics regarding what constitutes an heirloom that gardeners do agree on.

Heirloom Seeds are OLD. Exactly how old a seed variety must be to earn the classification of heirloom is highly debated. Most gardeners agree that Heirloom varieties should be at least 50 years old. Some say the seed must be 100 years old, while others use the year 1945, the end of World War II, as the marking point (1945 was also the beginning of the widespread use of hybrid commercial seed varieties). Commercially marketed, hybrid seeds gained great popularity in the 1970s. Many Heirloom varieties are 100-150 years old and some are much older.

Heirloom plants are High in Quality and Highly Quirky. Many gardeners are drawn to Heirloom seeds for one simple quality: FLAVOR. Heirloom plants taste the way we imagine our fruits and vegetables, in a perfect world, should taste. Heirloom plants taste wonderful, look beautiful and (in most cases) are easy to grow.

Heirlooms are also more "quirky" than their predictable hybrid counterparts. Heirloom seeds may be slow to germinate, they may show up after you've given up on them or they might come-in erratically. Some varieties have "unusual" qualities and growing habits that must be learned and appreciated through experience.

Heirloom plants, vegetables, herbs or flowers are also referred to as "cultivars". A cultivar is an assemblage of plants that have been selected for a particular attribute or combination of attributes, and that is clearly distinct, uniform and stable in those characteristics. Cultivars, when propagated by appropriate means, retain those characteristics

Heirloom seeds that are grown and selected year after year in a particular region or garden will adapt to that areas soil, climate and pests, making it an ideal micro-climate cultivar.

One thing EVERYONE agrees on, is that the taste and quality of the Heirloom fruit is far superior to any hybrid or supermarket strain!