Heirloom seeds help preserve food supply for future generations

I am one of those romantics who treasure all things “old” passed down to me from family members. Purple bottles, green Depression glass, kerosene lamps used before the advent of electricity and pieces of furniture over one-hundred years old all have special places in my home and in my heart.

Some people collect heirloom seeds like I collect antiques. Their mission is to preserve native seeds from extinction, share those seeds with others, and educate the public about the seeds' historical and botanical significance.

What makes heirloom seeds different from modern hybridized seeds? Basically, the term categorizes seeds that have been grown for a minimum of 50 years, have been open pollinated (by wind or insects) and have developed great character (flavor and looks).

Heirloom seeds are often resistant to local diseases in the area where they originated; and because they are naturally pollinated, their seeds produce plants with the same qualities as the parent plant. Many of these varieties have stayed in one family for generations as “pass-along plants,” while others have stayed in one region of the country for hundreds of years.

Often, the person who first grew an heirloom variety will use his/her name for the variety's name. “Hubbard” squash is named for a real Mrs. Hubbard. “Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red” is a tomato developed by Archie Millett, tomato breeder at UC-Davis. He gave some seeds to a friend and told him to name the tomato whatever he wished. His friend was neighbors with Clint Eastwood and wanted to honor him for all his philanthropic work, so he named the tomato in honor of Eastwood's character, Rowdy Yates, on the television series, “Rawhide.”

Each heirloom variety has an interesting story and background. For instance, most “black” tomatoes come from seeds originally brought to the U.S. by immigrants from Russia and Siberia.

Preserving our horticultural heritage is just as important as preserving our ancestral heritage.

According to Rural Advancement Fund International, which did a study of vegetables from 1903 to 1983, there was a 97 percent rate of extinction of heirloom vegetables during that time. In their place, commercialized, hybridized varieties were introduced. Hybrid plants have special traits which make them good for shipping and for extended shelf life in stores but don't make them flavorful.

When you look in a nursery for tomatoes, you usually see the same hybrid varieties year after year. “Early Girl,” “Big Boy,” “Better Boy,” “Celebrity” and “Sweet 100” are a few such hybrids. A problem could arise if a disease should attack these hybrids that couldn't be controlled. It could wipe out all the hybrid tomatoes, similar to what happened during the Irish Potato Famine.

In the 1840s, a majority of the Irish population relied upon one variety of potato, the lumper, plus one other variety, the cup, for the majority of their food supply. Potatoes were cheap to grow and produced a large crop on a small amount of land. When the potato blight arrived in Ireland, the potatoes rotted in the fields.

The next spring, farmers planted their remaining lumper and cup potatoes, but again the blight destroyed their crops. Other types of food were grown in such small quantities at the time that the cost of buying them was prohibitive. With their potato crops gone, the Irish began starving, and diseases caused by malnutrition ran rampant, causing even more people to perish.

It is recorded that the Cherokee Nation sent $710 to Ireland during the Irish Potato Famine stating that they knew the horror of starvation since they had experienced it during the Trail of Tears. Slowly, other crops were grown, and the Irish learned to not rely so heavily upon one crop for existence. Between death and immigration, Ireland lost about 25 percent of its population during the famine. This shows how necessary plant diversity is to ensure a good supply of food.

Various commercial and private groups have begun creating seed banks to collect heirloom seeds in order to continue their viability and to maintain plant diversity. The Cherokee Nation has its own seed bank where native seeds used by the Cherokee Indians for generations are stored. Seeds from the bank are planted, the crops harvested and fresh seed stored to preserve their unique strains of staple crops grown for hundreds of years.

Seed-Savers Exchange is one of the best-known sources for heirloom seeds in the U.S. Members save and share heirloom seeds from their gardens through this organization, whose goal is to preserve as many heirloom varieties as possible.

Probably the most famous worldwide seed saver organization is sponsored by Norway: the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. It was opened in 2008 and as stated by the organization is “the ultimate safety net for one of the world's most important natural resources, the world's seed collections.” It is an underground facility dug into the side of a mountain which can hold several million seed varieties. The Norwegians built it with their own funds and invited all countries to send seeds to be stored free of charge.

Its mission is to provide a safety net in case there is accidental loss of seed varieties caused by natural disasters, war or mismanagement of crops. Norway does not own the contents donated to the seed bank. Those countries who deposit seeds are still the owners but can access their donated seeds only if the original seed variety has been lost. Five hundred seeds of each variety are kept sealed in “black boxes” at -18 degrees C.

By 2009, 400,000 seed samples had been deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Ireland sent seed for 32 varieties of potatoes. The U.S., Colombia, Mexico, Syria, Canada and Switzerland are a few of the countries who donated seeds. By 2010, the number of seed samples stored rose to 526,000.

Farmers markets are a good source of heirloom plants and produce. In winter, Yuma has gardeners selling produce at the various swap meets in town. San Diego has numerous year-round farmers markets with an amazing variety of plants and produce for sale. Fresh from the garden to your kitchen is what makes farmers markets so appealing.

Karen Bowen is a Master Gardener and member of Yuma Garden Club. She can be reached at bowenkaren@ymail.com. This column is sponsored by the Federated Garden Clubs of Yuma.