Garden or Museum – what’s the big deal with heirloom veg?

Amen!!

Well said. Ever since the foundational work of Gregor Mendel, people have been using the science of genetics to work at producing new strains that are healthier, more productive, easier to grow, and generally more reliable. I agree that the focus on growing heirloom plants is more about looking at history through rose-colored-glasses. After all, it is somewhat nostalgic to grow the same tomato variety that my grandmother grew, and her grandmother before that, using seeds that have been preserved and passed from generation to generation. But that has nothing to do with “better.”

Stan Horst
Publisher: BetterBenches.com

I for one like museums. They are places to go where will you see things that you can’t see anywhere else, preserving the best of our heritage and safeguarding it for future generations to appreciate. With more people growing heirloom and old-fashioned varieties, what was valued is given a chance for future gardeners to appreciate and enjoy. And isn’t everyone always railing on about how newer cultivars aren’t always better?

Mr. Kingsbury, it is a fact, not a myth, that the majority of vegetables bred for commercial suppliers of supermarkets during the 60s-early 90s here in the US did not taste very good. Because they had to survive a journey of 1000-3000 miles from farm to market, most veg were selected for toughness not flavor. That’s why home gardeners turned to grandad for advice about what to grow…because we remembered that veg used to taste better than what we could purchase in our markets. That was not a myth.

Quite frankly, very few US gardeners I know reject hybrids out of hand. No experienced gardener I am familiar with chooses a veg based solely on whether it is an heirloom or not. “How does it taste?” is the most important question for most home gardeners.

Heirloom tomatoes started the trend here in the US. I’ve grown all types of tomatoes for 35+ years (beginning with Burpee’s famous hybrids). While I won’t argue that every heirloom vegetable variety tastes better than any hybrid, I am convinced that the best heirloom tomatoes beat all of the most popular hybrids–even the famous Rutgers “Jersey” tomato– by a very long margin. It’s true, they don’t travel very well. But some also win for production. The most prolific–and one of the best tasting–tomatoes I’ve ever grown is ‘Carmello’. It’s an heirloom variety. Beats all of the hybrids I’ve tried for both production and taste. It has also proven to be very resistant to disease…in my garden.

How sad that the focus was “tough veg that could travel” rather than how to grow great tasting veg in cold climates without relying on fossil fuels.

It’s also true that we must rely on good heirloom suppliers to keep the strains going. I’m very happy, for another even more important reason, to support their work.

The current focus on heirloom seeds here in the US is to preserve a “free market” source for seeds…to make sure that our food is protected from the greedy, dangerous corporation that is seeking to control the world’s seed supply. Since you failed to address this issue–which I consider the most important factor in a discussion of this nature–I wonder if you are aware that Monsanto purchased the world’s largest seed supplier, Seminis, about 5 years ago. It’s difficult to find a seed seller that does not rely on Seminis. The vast majority of fruits and vegetables sold in Western countries were grown from Seminis seeds. Monsanto could not care less about the world’s health and well-being. Small, by comparison, seed houses that work to preserve heirloom seeds are securing and preserving our future food sources…So that future plant breeders who are NOT employed by Monsanto can continue to provide us with good food plants.

That’s why I’m very grateful “the public” has come to believe heirloom seeds are something to treasure. It’s one step closer to becoming a more educated public on the topic of “where our food comes from.” Frankly, the issue of organic seeds vs “standard” seed–and certainly vs GM seed– is becoming a hotter topic on this side of the pond–and is, in my opinion, a much more important question for debate and disclosure.

http://www.seedalliance.org/index.php?page=SeminisMonsanto

I’ve never really thought about it this way. I embrace technology in most other areas of my life, why not the garden? Last year I was all heirloom with my tomatos, and was disappointed with the result (bad year for tomatos?). This year I’m trying new varieties, including some that are F1. I’ll still try some hierlooms too though — it’s always good to have comparisons.

Great post!

My fundamental problem with your post is that I don’t know who your audience is. To assert that heirlooms are over-rated, you are painting a broad brush. Commercial farming? Likely not. Local small farms? Depends on climate, local market needs, and your goals. Small home garden…. why not? Many home gardeners can put up with some waste, it is why many of us plant too much. The ROI is negligible. It is quite easy to put up a vast quantity of home grown, heirloom varieties. You simply make trade-offs on taste, variety, and yield. Myself, I won’t buy a tomato in the winter, a total waste of money. But, I will put up some frozen and canned for great rewards in winter.

Noel, you have certainly blown your invitation to Highgrove with this post. Surely both arguments can co-exist? There is scope for both harbouring heritage as well as producing modern (scientific) varieties? Why one or the other? Crucially, protecting heritage/heirloom plants does not just protect varieties but plant categories too. Medlars for example, never to be seen commercially; described as monkey’s bottoms, need to rot prior to eating, in other words the complete recipe for commercial failure But does that merit losing them? Agreed, this nostalgic train of thought, is certainly not of interest to most commercial farmers, nor should it be. When we go to the supermarket, most want some kind of standard when buying fruits and vegetables, and the farmer’s success depends on their being able to supply that demand. Furthermore, if the demand requires more produce from local sources, those local sources must be able to provide the required quantity and quality without the need for supplements from abroad. In terms of reducing food miles there is certainly a big case for modern scientific plant breeding. Perhaps some of the negative perception stem from the actual term ‘scientific’ plant breeding, which does make it sound like some kind of Signourney Weaver adventure. Very often, the ‘scientific’ part is using not only modern knowledge, but also that of the past, eg from the Victorians. Hence, I agree with you that modern plant breeding is vital. We have all enjoyed the proceeds in some form or other. I am particularly fond of the ever reliable Jazz apple, modern cross between a hard Braeburn and sweet Gala. Although for this argument, it is important to think beyond national boundaries. Having lived in Africa for over 15 years, there is no doubt that farmers there need new varieties, to help them grow in the conditions that they face. Lack of water, scorching temperatures, flash floods, numerous pests & diseases and increasing population growth, does means we need to do better. It is very clever and fortunate, that they can now for example grow varieties of wheat and corn that are stunted, hence not too tall, so that the plant requires less water, and is stronger than those we grow here. On our doorstep too, don’t forget that our environment is also changing, global warming is already affecting current flora and fauna. We may therefore require more modern plant breeding. The Monsanto comments are new to me, so it will be interesting to see if farmers will be able to take a stand. This case surely merits government intervention regarding monopolisation of the market?
Oh and ps… without meaning to insult your cooking skills, but you must be doing something wrong with that Cavolo Nero….

Well said, everyone! From flavor to politics, “garden-coached” gardens versus personality and history-laden spaces, unknown environmental ramifications to shrinking and contaminated genomes, to our freedom to buy those waxy pink but unblemished tomato-shaped lumps of paraffin from Mexico or Chile when the raccoons make off with our Black Krims, we’ve covered the subject. Talk about a civil discourse!
Personally. I find cutting daffodil pest-resistance into rice for human consumption when daffs are poisonous in all their parts a bit worrying. And then there’s the little problem of herbicide-resistant food crops causing herbicide resistance in the very weeds herbicide-resistant crops were bred to resist, resulting in more chemical use, not less. Oh, clever Monsanto!
Technology has done much to improve our lives, but it also exacts a price. Instant gratification, convenience and cheapness trump everything else, at least on this side of the pond. Paul Valery said, “The machine killed patience.” DuPont says, “Better living through chemistry.” Isn’t it up to us, as gardeners in frequent contact with the soil, to be a voice in reminding others there are things more important than the multi-national conglomerates’ bottom lines?
And that’s what I think the heirloom foodstuffs “craze” is really about.
Peace and love, y’all.

I grow both types of vegetables and while I agree the modern varieties were bred to be reliable, high-yielding, uniform looking (rather than good looking) and disease and stress-resistant plants I disagree with the statement on taste as pertain to US vegetables and tomatoes. There is no comparison to say a green zebra tomato or black Krim compared to a freshly picked F1.

I am from the Caribbean and we cannot stand the taste of the US bred tropical fruits like citrus, etc. which tastes to us like weak sour or sweet water. Even when the fruits are sweet its just a uniform sweetness with no flavors or nuances. Many of the US vegetables like pumpkin are to us devoid of richness and flavor. Ditto many UK ones.

When I travel to Africa and Asia and taste their “heirloom” vegetables as well as Asian bred vegetables the flavor blows one away. Well the earth and sunshine do have a part to play in the flavor but still, I am happy for the preservation and dissemination of heirloom vegetables.

I do disagree with those who consider all modern advances in plants and seeds as “evil”. However re the statement “and an issue for poor farmers in developing countries, but how many of us are going to begrudge spending an extra dollar” well, “poor farmers in developing countries” outnumber “us” by the millions so that dismissive attitude is very worrying. Plus I have seen the ill effects of this F1 seed promotion among poor farmers-I don’t think mass starvation and early childhood deaths by the thousands is really a justification for anything.

These poor farmers and their families are in fact not getting “more and more of the good stuff” when corrupt US and European companies pay corrupt politicians in poor countries to foist these seeds on poor farmers by convincing them to abandon their traditional varieties, leading to dependence or starvation for the next few decades, and often both.

Last year, a gardener at Vaucluse House here in Sydney (which includes an heirloom vegetable plot) told me that a variety of bean they tried, with a name like “Early Pretty” had been dubbed “Erky Yucky” by the staff because it tasted so bad! My guess is that it was meant to be dried rather than eaten fresh. I think you made a similar mistake with Chioggia: a beetroot with an Italian name is probably not going to be good in borshch, especially given its lack of colour and its sweetness. Similarly, there’s a saying that you need to put the water on to boil before you go out to pick your sweet corn. The point that a lot of home gardeners are making is that heirlooms cater better for their needs because they were bred to cater for home needs. But whether it’s a modern or heirloom variety, you need to know what it was bred to do to prevent disappointment.