Heirloom plant

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Only a few of the many varieties of potato are commercially grown; others are heirlooms.

An heirloom plant is an open-pollinated cultivar that was commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but which is not used in modern large-scale agriculture. Since most popular heirloom plants are vegetables, the term heirloom vegetable is often used instead. The trend of growing heirloom plants in gardens has been growing in popularity in the United States and Europe over the last decade.

Before the industrialization of agriculture, a much wider variety of plant foods was grown for human consumption. In modern agriculture in the Industrialized World, most food crops are now grown in large, monocultural plots owned by corporations. In order to maximize consistency, few varieties of each type of crop are grown. These varieties are often selected for their productivity, their ability to withstand the long trips to supermarkets, or their tolerance to drought, frost, or pesticides. Nutrition, flavor, and variety are frequently secondary and tertiary concerns, if at all a concern. Heirloom gardening can be seen as a reaction against this trend. In the Global South, heirloom plants are still widely grown, for example in the home gardens of South and Southeast Asia, although their future is uncertain.

Growing heirloom plants may help increase the genetic variation of crops.

Heirloom growers have different motivations. Some people grow heirlooms for historical interest, while others want to increase the available gene pool for a particular plant for future generations. Some select heirloom plants due to an interest in traditional organic gardening. Many simply want to taste the different varieties of vegetables, or see if they can grow a rare variety of plant.

There is no consensus as to how old a plant variety should be before it can be considered an heirloom. Many gardeners consider 1951 to be the latest year a plant can have originated and still be called an heirloom, since that year marked the widespread introduction of the first hybrid varieties. Some heirloom plants are much older, some being apparently pre-historic. Usually, a plant is not called an heirloom if it is grown widely and commercially, regardless of how old it is.

To be an heirloom, a plant must be "open-pollinated", meaning it will grow "true to type" from seed. This excludes nearly every hybrid. Open pollination allows the same cultivar to be grown simply from seed for many generations.

Typically, heirlooms have adapted over time to whatever climate and soil they have grown in. Thanks to their genetics, they are often resistant to pests, diseases, and extremes of weather.

Heirloom roses are sometimes collected (nondestructively as small leaf cuttings) from cemeteries, where they were once planted at gravesites by mourners and left undisturbed in the decades since.

[edit] Examples

• Heirloom tomato
• Forbidden rice
• Bhutanese red rice

[edit] See also

• List of organic gardening and farming topics
• Seed saving
• Slow Food
• History of gardening
• Local food

[edit] External links

• What is an heirloom vegetable?
• Information from the Home and Garden Information Center at Clemson University
• Heirlooms, the Garden Treasury from Vegetarians in Paradise.
• Seed Savers Exchange, a group dedicated to the preservation of heirloom vegetables and flowers.
• [1],
• The Southern Bulb Co., Dedicated to rescuing and preserving heirloom flower bulbs

[edit] References

Gardening with Heirloom Seeds: Tried-and-True Flowers, Fruits, & Vegetables for a New Generation, by Lynn Coulter [Category:Culture of Vermont]]