Heirloom Vegetable Seeds

Remember those delicious tomatoes your granny picked up from the kitchen garden? Wouldn't reinventing the same taste be a tantalizing treat to your taste buds? The answer to your questions lie in the cultivation of heirloom vegetable seeds. Heirloom plants, grown out of heirloom seeds, have their origins in the early human history. In the ancient times, open-cultivation was the only way of cultivation. Open cultivation refers to the pollination done by birds, insects or through any other natural source. The seeds pollinated by the means of open-cultivation formed the agricultural produce of those times. Thus, to simplify, we can say that heirloom vegetable seeds are those seeds which are dispersed through natural mechanism.

As the method of cultivation is totally natural, the vegetables grown out of these seeds have beguiling flavors. Passed on from generations to generations, heirloom seeds reinvigorate the essence of gardening. As a matter of fact, heirloom seeds are tougher than regular seeds due to their genetics. This makes them resistant to farm insects and adverse climatic conditions. However, there is no age bar set for the seed to qualify as a heirloom seed. There are numerous heirloom vegetable seeds sought by people for different reasons such as historical gardening or for reinventing the lost taste!

Heirloom Vegetable Seeds

Red Tomato
Red tomato has been the most popular heirloom vegetable since a long time. The heirloom seeds to grow this vegetable have been increasingly available in the recent years. It has a very short growing season and it also ripens early. The plant produces many tomatoes in a single season. It takes about 65-75 days to mature but in mild climatic conditions it is known to mature within 50 days.

Italian Green Calabrese Broccoli
Broccoli was introduced in the West by the Italians immigrants. This green, flower shaped vegetable is rich in Vitamin A and adds only a few calories. If its green head is cut, many branches grow out of it. It takes about 60 to 80 days to mature and although its head is often eaten, the stalk, leaves, and buds also make good cooking options.

Sweet Corn Seed
The classic golden corn was first cultivated by William Chambers, a farmer from Greenfield, Massachusetts. It takes 75 days for the seed to mature and produce a 5-7 inch long, juicy, golden corn cob.

Purple Beauty Bell Pepper Seeds
The beautiful purple bell pepper plant is a rare sight even to heirloom cultivators. The plant grows a 3x3 inch bell pepper. In the beginning, it is emerald green and then it matures to a beautiful deep purple. The advantage of gardening these bell peppers is that they can grow in any climatic condition.

Cultivating these heirloom veggies in your own garden ensures self-sufficiency. Moreover, the seeds can be stored for a good five seasons. An advantage of growing heirloom vegetables is that they have a greater nutritional value than the hybrid plants. Try your hand at gardening with heirloom seeds and enjoy the healthy and tasteful meals!