Heirloom vegetables are all the rage right now. Edible nostalgia is the practice of growing antique vegetable varieties. Heirlooms bring the old-time taste back to vegetables. Maybe you already know the heirloom Brandywine tomato-the large, flavorful Amish variety dating back to at least 1885. Did you know you could grow yellow and pink tomatoes? Heirloom seeds can also provide us with red carrots, white pumpkins, and purple potatoes. People who have never planted a seed in their lives are seeking heirlooms at farmers' markets and gourmet chefs are featuring the produce on their menus.

The definition of an heirloom plant varies. Heirlooms can range in age from 50 to 2000 years or more. While a few plants have existed in their present forms since prehistory, heirloom dating is fixed by a plant's first written mention, either by a horticulturist, hobbyist or often in personal diaries and letters. The cultivar or variety has a special history that traces the plant's origins to a particular region of the country. Preserving heirloom seeds gives people a sense of history and cultural heritage. Among the groups that have made special efforts to collect and save heirloom seeds are the Amish, the Mennonites, and Native Americans.

Pollination also affects heirloom vegetables. The seed has to have the same genetic composition of its parents. It must be pollinated with pollen from the same variety. Direct hand pollination is one method to produce heirlooms because the pollen is transferred directly to the stigma within the flower.

Tomatoes are an example of a self-pollinating vegetable. The seeds are "true" in that they exactly duplicate their parent plants. Heirlooms are generally obtained from another gardener, a family member or seed exchange with the unwritten promise to propagate the seeds season after season.

Hybrid vegetables are crossbred for popular traits such as color, size or if they ripen all at once. Seeds from a crossbred variety will not be able to reproduce a second-generation hybrid; they revert back to one of the parent plants.

In today's hectic, fast-paced lifestyle, the consumer dictates that we have edible vegetables year-round. The vegetables are uniform in size, true to their color, ripen at the same time and are solid and thick skinned because they have to survive hundreds of crushing miles on a truck plus another week on the shelf. The flavor feature of these vegetables is lost.

Heirloom vegetable seeds introduce varieties of tomatoes and vegetables with unique shapes and colors never seen in the supermarket. Their features offer unmatchable sweetness, fragrance, and juiciness that beckon us to choose historical vegetables over hybrids.

In the 1900's nearly 7,000 varieties of apples existed in this country. Today, that number is less that 1,000. Unfortunately, a similar pattern exists for most of our fruit and vegetable varieties. There are many seed companies devoted exclusively to saving and selling heirloom seeds and plants. For the home gardener, preserving heirloom plants and saving the seeds is participating in saving many varieties from extinction and preserving plants with special genetic traits.

Home gardening with heirlooms enables us to pass on the rich history with which many plants are endowed. By learning the origins of the seeds, the heritage may be shared with other growers of heirlooms or passed on to family members and in this way it is possible to save special varieties not commonly grown.

For additional information, see Fact Sheet #7.602 - Saving Seed.

Sources:
Seed Savers Exchange, 3076 North Winn Rd., Decorah, IA 52101
Burpee Heirlooms, Seeds and Plants, W. Atlee Burpee & CO., 300 Park Ave., Warminster, PA 18991-0008
Seeds of Change, P.O. Box 15700, Santa Fe, NM 87592
Territorial Seed Co., P.O. Box 158, Cottage Grove, OR 97424.

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Where Trade Names Are Used, No Discrimination Is Intended, And No Endorsement
By Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Is Implied
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Q. June is when my garden looks best. Will deadheading keep my flowers blooming?

A. Deadheading will extend the blooming season for many plants. It keeps flowers looking attractive and it stops seed production. If a plant produces seeds, flowering declines. Remove the spent blossoms, making sure to remove the developing seedpod, often located at the center or just behind the flower. Don't just pull off the petals. Zinnias, marigolds, and cosmos will flower all summer if you continually remove spent flowers. Snapdragons produce flowering side shoots if the main flowering stalk is removed. Impatiens naturally drop their flowers and do not need deadheading. Some plants, such as Sweet William, can be cut back to half their height and will produce a second bloom.

Q. The bindweed in my garden is a nightmare in my garden. What can I do to get rid of it?

A. Bindweed or creeping jenny becomes established in dry areas with little or no topsoil, lack of organic matter or low fertility. Bindweed can put out 30 square yards of underground stems (stolons) in one season. It chokes everything it can wrap itself around. One method of attack is to repeatedly chop it off at ground level to starve the root. It is useless to pull it as it responds with new vigor. Sponging or painting the bindweed with an herbicide (rather than spraying) is best when bindweed and desirable plants are in close proximity. Persistence, persistence, persistence is required as it may take several years to rid the garden of bindweed.

Q. I want to control the growth of my fall mums. When do I begin pinching the plants back?

A. Pinching is an artificial way of forcing plants to branch or become bushy. The timing of the first pinch on garden mums coincides with 1-to 1 1/2-inches of new growth. Simply use your thumb and forefinger to literally pinch off tips of stems. When the plant has developed a substantial amount of new growth, the tips of each new branch is pinched closer to the top of the stems. Pinching back produces more flowers and will work for most perennials, annuals, herbs and foliage plants. Pinching should stop in midsummer to allow the plants to produce buds for late summer and fall flowers.

Blossom end rot (brown, rotted looking bottoms on your tomatoes) is usually the result of irregular watering or root damage. Mulch around young plants to keep the soil evenly moist and the weeds down. Be careful when staking or weeding so that you don't damage the roots.

Plant annual vines to cover your new arbor or trellis while you are waiting for the slower growing roses or perennial vines to grow. Try scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus), morning glory (Ipomoea), hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab), or canary creeper (Tropaeolum seregunium).

Site your water feature in an area of your yard that is away from your trees. Most water plants need full sun (at least 6 hours a day) and trees drop debris that can cause algae problems.

Encourage branching and additional flowers by removing the top few inches of stems on asters and chrysanthemums when the plants get to be about a foot tall. Continue to "pinch back" until mid-July.

Adult flea beetles are small, black and shiny with large rear legs to "jump like a flea" when disturbed. Adults feed on the foliage of most garden plants causing small shot hole feeding wounds. The damage to leafy vegetables like lettuce or spinach is usually cosmetic, but small plants can be stunted or killed. Try using floating row covers to protect seedlings. Most garden insecticides that are labeled for use on ornamentals and vegetables will kill flea beetles but must be reapplied because the beetles emerge over several weeks. Always read and follow label directions when applying any chemicals.

The authors have received training through Colorado State University Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener program and is a Master Gardener volunteer for Larimer County.

Gardening and Insect Fact Sheets are available on-line by clicking HERE.

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This page updated:  June 22, 2004