Heirloom Gardening

Over the past 100 years the production of vegetables and fruits have increased and been more productive by technology. Science has found ways to not only increase the harvest but also to make vegetables and fruits standard colors and sizes. By developing hybrid plants they have eliminated or discontinued many varieties of vegetables while this is beneficial to feed the world, the vegetable and fruits of today have lost the uniqueness, variety and taste of crops of past generations. There is a growing trend to turn back to those original plants through heirloom gardening. There are dedicated gardeners and farmers who cherish the old varieties and want to keep them alive.

To be an heirloom plant a few characteristics must be present:

• The history of the plant must be established. You should know something about the plant
• Heirloom seeds should be self-pollinated or open pollinated. In other words you could grow more plants with their seed.
• The age of the plants must be over 50 years old.

 Where can you get heirloom seeds?

There are various seed catalog companies and organizations that you can buy the seeds from. One of the organizations is the Seed Savers. According to their website they have “Since 1975, Seed Savers Exchange members have passed on approximately one million samples of rare garden seeds to other gardeners”

Heirloom gardening has become very popular in the UK and also America. Many see the value of keeping alive vast varieties of flowers and vegetables for future generations.