What's in your garden?

[Tia]

Tia...No, an Heirloom is a 'true to seed' plant. In other words not hybridized. So, the seed will produce the same plant as the parent. Not so with Hybrids. They are called Heirlooms because they 'predate' hybrids.

Makes sense, I was close



[quote

Believe it or not I grew up in what used to be a small town ( Reynoldsburg Ohio) where a man named Livingston who credited with producing the first good tomatoes was from Every year we had a Tomato festival.

Any was I guess he was the forefather of Heirloom tomatoes.

I don't agree with that. Ever try a wild strawberry. Much tastier. But.....First I should say, that when I'm referring to heirlooms I'm talking about old cultivars not hybrids. Hybrids require creating a new plant from two or more parent plants. Cultivars are developed. It is the old cultivars that are the heirlooms and they have superior flavor. Not always best looks or as disease resistant but an authentic flavor that we sometimes sacrifice to get the other results. If I could find a live plant of 'Medford' I'd certainly try it. I don't do good with trying to grow tomatoes from seed. I'd need a green house I guess.

To be 'heirloom' the plant or seed has to be able to reproduce itself. For example, one variety of tomato that has been saved for generation after generation of plantings will produce that same variety of tomato.

Heirloom seeds are always self-pollinated or open-pollinated and will produce plants with the same traits planting after planting, generation after generation. Hybrid seeds will not be able to reproduce plants with exactly the same traits.

The variety of seed must have been introduced at least 50 years ago, though some heirloom gardeners say they must be at least 100 years old. In recent years, however, varieties with shorter histories are considered heirloom because of their uniqueness.

So, I'm not talking tomatoes pre cultivation, just pre bio engineered or hybridized.