Heirloom Vegetable Seed Information
Interest in raising plants from heirloom seeds is growing and societies and organizations connect people who have these seeds to those who want to grow them. Unlike hybridized seeds, heirloom seeds may be harvested so that the home gardener may grow plants year after year without buying new seeds. Gardeners also enjoy growing the wider variety of plants available from fellow heirloom seed collectors. Does this Spark an idea?
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History
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Prior to modern agricultural practices and the development of hybrid plants to produce food in massive quantities, virtually all flowers and vegetables planted from seed were what today are called heirloom seeds. Luther Burbank was the first to hybridize seeds and tubers to produce disease-resistant and more-productive plants. He spent over 50 years developing more than 800 new strains of plants.
Importance of Heirloom Seeds
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Interest has been growing in cultivating and collecting heirloom seeds because of the proliferation of genetically modified organisms---or GMOs---that have been hybridized to resist herbicides that many farmers and ranchers use to manage the weeds in their crops.
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Heirloom Seed Organizations
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A loose, worldwide network of heirloom seed societies and organizations use the Internet, newsletters, and word of mouth to collect and disseminate heirloom seeds among their members. These organizations depend on others to grow heirloom plants and dry the seeds so they may make the seeds available to others who want to perpetuate the heirloom plants.
Advantages of Using Heirloom Seeds
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As in the animal kingdom, plants naturally evolve to survive and an heirloom seed is no different. Since heirloom seeds are not from hybridized plants, they are often biologically capable of withstanding difficult environmental conditions such as droughts, floods, pests and disease.
Gardeners who want to harvest their seeds to grow next year's crops plant heirloom seeds instead of hybrid seeds to save money or keep a strain of a plant growing year after year. Harvesting seeds from hybridized plants for subsequent crops doesn't work dependably because the seeds may not be fertile or the fruit or vegetables from second-generation hybrid seeds may be substandard.
Selecting Heirloom Seeds and Storing Them
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Plants that are vigorous and healthy produce the best seeds. Seed pods are placed on a screen in a location in which they will dry completely. Seeds with any moisture inside may mold, which leaves them unable to sprout when planted.
Heirloom gardeners put the seeds in a waterproof container, either glass or plastic, and store them in cool, dark places or in the refrigerator. They also label the container with the name of the plant and the year of its harvest to make sure they are planting fresh seeds for the next season.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Seeds of sunflower image by Yuriy Rozanov from Fotolia.com
