Save Those Heirloom Seeds

[Northmountain]

From Sustainable Food

For most of agricultural history, gardeners had to save their own seeds from the best of their crop to plant the next year. These seeds were what we call heirloom vegetables, open-pollinated varieties that were passed down within communities for generations. Now that we have seed companies to do the sometimes tedious task of collecting seeds for us, seeds that are usually readily available and cheap, why should we go through this process ourselves?

As it turns out, there are any number of reasons.


Consider this: Unless you saved your own seeds last year, you may not be able to plant your favorite vegetables this year. Last year, the U.S. and parts of Europe had one of the worst growing seasons in decades, with heavy rains and a particularly nasty outbreak of Late Blight. This has taken its toll on many seed companies' supplies. Gardeners are being advised to buy their seeds early this year before they sell out — particularly the popular varieties of cucumbers, carrots, snap peas, and onions.

Even if you aren't worried about the seed shortage, there are plenty of reasons to plant and propagate heirloom seeds rather than the commercial varieties. Seed Savers Exchange catalog will show you the overwhelming variety of cultivars available, each one with a history and a unique set of characteristics. Any biologist will tell you that a secure ecosystem is a diverse one, and the same goes for our food supply. It's individual growers who keep these strains alive, and you can be a part of that.

An added bonus: Many heirloom vegetables have been grown in a specific region for generations and have become adapted to a particular climate, making them easy to grow there. Find out what heirloom varieties people are growing in your area, and chances are you will find vegetables far better suited to your garden than the few popular varieties readily available from seed companies. And by saving the seeds from your best plants, you will actually help improve that variety, making it further specialized not just to your region, but to the particular micro-climate in your yard.

Commercial varieties are often bred for traits like uniformity, shelf life, and the ability to withstand being shipped to a supermarket. But most heirloom varieties were selected for local disease resistance and, as anyone who has ever eaten a Pink Brandywine tomato or a Rosa Bianca eggplant can tell you, superior, out-of-this-world taste.

Yet saving seed is becoming less and less common. Most commercial vegetable varieties are hybrids, crosses that perform well for one generation but don't breed true. As genetically modified crops overwhelm the marketplace, saving seed is even becoming illegal, and those who defy seed patents are harshly prosecuted by the likes of Monsanto. The result of all this is heirloom varieties are becoming fewer in number and harder to find, and we only need to look at the Irish potato famine to see the devastating consequences of too little diversity in our food supply.

Become a part of preserving our food security, our agricultural history, and a wealth of unique and wonderful tastes. Start saving your own heirloom seeds, join a local seed swappers exchange, and support farmers who do the same. At the very least, your taste buds will thank you, profusely!