Some people are just fascinated with the history of heirloom vegetable seeds and claim that these are living artifacts. Heirloom vegetables are also popular in history exhibits as it brings back memories of yesteryears and of life in earlier times. Some breeders and gardeners believe that heirloom vegetables date back to the 1920’s as evidenced by those re-creating the World War II Victory gardens.

As mentioned in my previous post, heirloom seeds are seeds that have been saved for generations from families all over the world. These seeds are usually open-pollinated (non-hybrid) and have been saved and grown by generations of backyard gardeners for a variety of vegetables and flower plants.

When buying heirloom seeds, find out if the vegetable seeds are old and open-pollinated which will indicate that it is an heirloom. When gardeners refer to open-pollinated, it means that a vegetable or flower plant can be grown from seed and will come back ‘true to type’ and the quality will be just like its parent.

Seed companies today offer hundreds of heirloom vegetable seeds. While some of these are standard varieties, others may be seeds that were popular once but somehow disappeared through the years and some gardeners are bringing them back. There is just something about all the different shapes and flavors of heirloom vegetables that keeps bringing more and more people into the heirloom vegetable craze.

 

And in this mix, you may find varieties that according to some experts they think that some heirloom vegetables are traditional Native American crops and others are old European crops. Nonetheless, heirloom vegetables are here to stay and preferred by many people today. The main reason for this is that vegetables grown from heirloom seeds have lots of flavor and do not compare to the ones you buy in stores today.

If you are new to heirloom vegetable gardening, keep in mind that some heirloom vegetables grown at home will not have perfect colors and are usually not formed like the ones you buy in the stores. As an example, when growing heirloom tomatoes you may get some red ones, purple, green and orange as well. The shape of these tomatoes will also vary from one plant to another. Regardless of the shape and color of these tomatoes, they taste great.

Here is a description of a few heirloom vegetables to get you started with your heirloom vegetable garden.

Tomato Brandywine – Botanical name is Lycopersicon Brandywine

This heirloom tomato resembles our modern hybrids but Brandywine produces big purplish-red tomatoes. The shape of the tomato is not uniform and no two will look exactly alike but the flavor is great.

Tomato Contoluto Genovese – Botanical name is Lycopersicon Costoluto Genovese

This tomato is ideal for canning and considered one of the best for pastes and sauces. Some people say that once you try this tomato you may like it so much that you never have to buy tomato paste or sauce at the store again. It does not have plate appeal because of its knobby, lobed look, but it is great on flavor.

The Contoluto Genovese tomato has been treasured in Italy for generations and it has been said that it is the secret ingredient in family Italian recipes. The flavor comes from the high acidic content of this tomato which makes it ideal for any recipe that calls for tomato paste or sauce.

Eggplant Prosperosa – Botanical name is Solanum melongena Prosperosa

This heirloom from Tuscany is another Italian favorite for generations. The flavor of this heirloom eggplant is more sweet and mild than the hybrids you buy in stores today making this a favorite in Italy. You can fry or roast this eggplant but most people agree that the best flavor seems to emerge when it is baked.

Organic Lettuce Deer Tongue – Botanical name is Lactuca Sative Organic Deer Tongue

Wow! Here is an American favorite since 1740 and it is very tolerant to both cold and heat. The history behind this lettuce states that the Europeans settling in the New World wrote about it in the 1740’s so we don’t know how far back the cultivation goes among people from North America.

Since this heirloom lettuce has been around for centuries, it has adapted to a wide range of climates and it tolerates both hot and cold weather. The leaves are triangular and somewhat pointed which is why it was named deer tongue. This seed is Certified Organic from Clemson University DPI according to standards.

To your gardening success,
Diana

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

History of Flower Gardening
Twitter / Flower Gardens: Flower Gardening : How to ...
GardeningAtHome - Twitter
Flower Power: Keeping Them Alive Longer - CBS News
Flower Gardening--Gardening Tools
AOL.com Video - How to Learn the Top Flower Gardening Tips

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