What Are Heirloom Seeds?
Heirloom seeds are a valuable and unique form of gardening and farming heritage. They are ancient varieties that have been passed down and preserved by generations of gardeners and farmers, and they have been prized for their unique characteristics and flavors.
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What Are Heirloom Seeds?
Heirloom seeds are usually open-pollinated, meaning they can be saved and replanted year after year, passing on the same traits and characteristics to their offspring.
These seeds typically existed more than 50 years ago and have been carefully handed down through the generations.
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Heirloom varieties are not tampered with or modified in any way. This results in a healthy bio-diversity of seed types that can often have better resistance to various crop diseases and many other benefits.
Heirloom seeds can be a great way to start a garden and provide a connection to the past. Here are what heirloom seeds are, their history, and how you can use them in your garden.
Picking Heirloom Plants to Grow in Your Garden
Heirloom seeds are available from most garden nurseries and you can also order them online. We’ve featured a few heirloom seed sources below, but just Google the seed name and you’ll be sure to find additional Websites to learn about heirloom seeds from!
Beans (bush)
- Black Valentine
- Brittle Wax
- Burpee’s Stringless Green Pod
- Fowler
- Triomphe de Farcy
Beans (pole)
- Scarlet Runner
- Kentucky Wonder
- Oregon Giant Snap
- Potomac
Beets
- Bull’s Blood
- Chioggia
- Early Blood Turnip
Broccoli
- Calabrese
- De Cicco
Carrots
- Danvers Half Long
- Red Cored Chantenay
- Scarlet Nantes
- St. Valery
- Touchon
Corn
- Ashworth
- Golden Bantam
- Utah King
Cucumbers
- Bushy
- Double Yield
- Straight Eight
- White Wonder
Eggplant
- Diamond
- Ping Tung Long
Lettuce
- Black Seeded Simpson
- Paris White Cos
- Tom Thumb
- Winter Density
- May Queen Lettuce
- Little Gem
Peas
- Green Arrow (sweet peas)
- Tom Thumb (sweet peas)
Peppers (Hot)
- Black Hungarian
- Hot Lemon
- Hot Portugal
Peppers (Sweet)
- Bull Nose
- Healthy
- Klari Baby Cheese
Radishes
- Cherry Bell
- Crimpson
- Easter Basket
Spinach
- Viroflay
- Noble Giant
Squash (Summer)
- Black Zucchini
- Nimba
- Yellow Crookneck
Squash (Winter)
- Table Queen
- Waltham Butternut
Sweet Potatoes
- Carver
- Georgia Jet
- Ivis White Cream
- Jumbo
Tomatoes
- Black Prince
- Black Sea Man
- Clear Pink Early
- Czech’s Bush
- Silvery Fir Tree
- Sophie’s Choice
- Stupice
- Yellow Pear
Watermelon
- Moon and Stars
- Blacktail Mountain
- Cream of Saskatchewan
- Sweet Siberian
