Heirloom seeds; digging deeper

It all starts with seeds. Growing your own food is an act of independence and self-reliance that enables you to step off the commodity-driven supply chain of industrial agriculture.

When you grow your own food, you are in control of all the inputs like water, fertiliser, minerals and compost that go into the harvest that you consume, and, if you grow organically, you are making a positive contribution to reducing your carbon footprint.

But there is one input that is far more than meets the eye. The seeds that you choose to grow have a story to tell and by choosing heirloom seed, you have an opportunity to be part of that story. By choosing heirloom seeds you are not just growing a crop to consume, but are joining a movement that stretches back hundreds of generations and, with your help, will stretch on to future gardeners yet to be born.

But what is an heirloom seed and what makes them so special?

Custodians of genetic diversity

Heirloom seeds usually pre-date the 1950s and are ‘open-pollinated’, which means that pollination occurs naturally via wind, insects and birds. Open-pollinated varieties are bred to be true-to-type and, as long as they are prevented from cross-pollinating with other varieties of the same species, the following generation will maintain the characteristics of the variety. The techniques of maintaining the characteristics of open-pollinated (OP) varieties are age-old and are part of the cultural history that we carry forward when we grow and maintain heirloom seeds.

In the same way that a piece of furniture or jewellery is passed from one generation to the next, an heirloom seed variety is handed from one gardener to another. But an heirloom seed is far more than just nostalgia – it is the embodiment of cultural and biological provenance, a history of preserving diversity and safe-guarding heritage that can be traced back through generations. The simple act of sowing and growing an heirloom seed links the gardener to an unbroken chain of observation, selection and cultivation that stretches back to the earliest domestication of wild plants for human consumption.

Hybrids vs. heirlooms

An important distinction to highlight is the difference between open-pollinated and hybrid seeds. Hybrid seeds are produced by the deliberate and controlled crossing of two distinct varieties in what is known as a ‘first filial’ cross; these varieties are listed with ‘F1’ after their variety name.

The critical difference between F1s and OPs is not in the quality or quantity of the harvest, but rather the shift in ownership from the community of growers to seed companies. This is because F1 hybrids do not produce true-to-type in the next generation, so the grower cannot save seed for the following season and must return every year to the seed company to buy more seed.

F1 hybrids were first introduced to farmers (and gardeners) in the 1930s and their use expanded in the 40s and 50s as commercial growers favoured the uniformity and traits such as shelf-life and transportability. As these hybrids began to replace the traditional open-pollinated varieties, so too did the dependence on seed companies of farmers and gardeners. The traditional practice of growing and saving a seed crop began to decline, which saw the existence of these old ‘heirloom’ varieties threatened.

Recovering forgotten diversity

Over the decades from the 1930s to the 70s, many varieties were lost forever across the world, including in Australia. When we compare the number of tomato varieties listed for cultivation in the third edition of Victoria’s Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 26 ‘Tomato Culture in Victoria’ published in the mid-40s, there are 156 tomato varieties listed as cultivated in market gardens in the state. In the fifth edition, published a decade later, there are just 26. Missing in the later edition are varieties like ‘Bendigo Large Red’, ‘Somner’s Australian Large Red’, ‘Excelsior’ and ‘Radio’ that are now likely extinct.

As commercial seed companies across the world concentrated on new and ‘improved’ hybrid varieties, many old favourites that had been passed down from generation to generation were lost forever. Fortunately, a movement emerged in the 70s, first in the U.S. then across the world, aimed at halting the loss of these cultural treasures so we could all enjoy the colours, flavours and stories of our global food heritage.

The Seed Savers Exchange was founded by Diane Ott Whealy and Kent Whealy in 1975 as a community of gardeners and small farmers who wanted to preserve these important food crops. The network of exchange that they established gave rise to a movement that Diggers is proud to be a part of today. We have rescued and reinvigorated many Australian heirloom varieties like Pea ‘Franks’ (shared by May Barnes), Carrot ‘Western Red’ (shared by the O’Connor family) and Tomato ‘Uncle Tony’s La Stupenda’ (shared by Bill Henson). Through our seed store, trial gardens and our members we are proud to be part of this preservation movement.

With governments and modern seed companies showing little interest in the grass roots seed preservation movement it is left to organisations like us to fill the void. In the strong gardener’s tradition of community and self-reliance, The Diggers Foundation is seeking your support to help us maintain our living collection of Australian heirlooms – to catalogue, record, preserve and grow these wonders of yesterday to make them available for generations to come.

If you would like to share and preserve an heirloom variety from your family or community, please email us at seeds@diggers.com.au

Written by Tim Sansom, Diggers CEO.