What makes an heirloom an heirloom?  Why are they so special?

Heirlooms are old, open-pollinated varieties that are hardy and and of excellent quality. They have been around for ages, they are true to type, and there is nothing that compares to the taste of an heirloom vegetable. 

There are sources which claim that certain heirlooms date back to pre-Columbian times. Many cultivars were the varieties grown by Native Americans.  Still, other varieties date from the 1930's and 40's....the very kinds that our ancestors were planting in their Victory Gardens!  In a sense, when heirlooms are planted, grown, and the seed is saved, you are saving a piece of history. You are preserving a piece of vegetable heritage.

Another aspect of the heirlooms is that they are open-pollinated. Well, what does that mean?  It means that they reproduce after their kind. They are true to type. If you plant a Cherokee Purple tomato plant, harvest the seeds, then plant the seeds the next year, then you will grow more Cherokee Purple tomatoes.  Newer varieties, mostly F1 Hybrids or genetically-modified seeds and such, will not reproduce true to type, and many are even sterile.

But probably the best thing about heirloom is the superior quality and taste. These cultivars have been growing for many decades; they are hardy, they are dependable, and there is a reason our ancestors have kept planting them again and again--because they are delicious!  There is nothing like eating sweet corn that has been picked that same afternoon. There is nothing like a home-grown watermelon that perhaps your great-great grandfather would have eaten. Once you have eaten an Italian heirloom squash, then it is very hard to go back to eating the small rubbery things from the grocery store.

Indeed, there is nothing like the taste or quality of well-grown heirloom veggies. And to think--when they are planted and grown, you are growing a piece of history.