Sowing the seeds of diversity

Since World War II, the move toward corporate ownership of our vegetable varieties and the introduction of modern hybrids has seen a substantial decline in traditional heirloom varieties available to gardeners. The introduction of the supermarket economy, mass transport and refrigerated storage has enabled produce to be grown thousands of kilometres from the kitchen table.

New varieties, owned by large companies and designed for storage and transportation, lack the flavour and diversity of open-pollinated heirloom varieties. Where once each region had its own selections, bred to grow in the climate, soil and environment of that area, corporatisation of our food supply has seen a homogenisation of our vegetable varieties, gardens and cuisine. Modern vegetables that are alienated from their environment represent mass-produced uniformity. Plants are bred to produce identical results without individuality or any chance of adaptation to their conditions. Seed must be bought anew every season, often at inflated prices from large agricultural companies. On the other hand, open-pollinated publicly owned varieties produce viable seed that is true-to-type. This seed can be saved each year for future planting.

Our common cultural heritage

Rather than being owned by large multinational companies, open-pollinated publicly owned seed has been passed down by gardeners and farmers from generation to generation for hundreds (if not thousands) of years – it is our common horticultural heritage. Each season’s seed saving was not merely an act of conservation but an active participation in the selection and evolution of that variety. Vegetables grown in the same climate, soil and environment for generations adapt to their conditions. Hundreds of years of expert gardeners have selected the best tasting and best performing vegetables from which to save seed.

Heirloom varieties boast a healthy diversity from one plant to another even within a single packet of seeds. Just as you will notice when walking through a forest that no two trees are the same; heirloom vegetables are uniquely individual plants. No identical plant has ever existed, nor will it. Their differences represent the immense potential for development and improvement of the variety by the gardener, whether simply by selecting the healthiest and best performing plants or by selecting seed for different desirable traits.

Heirlooms and disease resistance

Hybrids are often marketed as ‘disease resistant’, higher yielding or superior to the heirloom varieties from which they were bred. Diggers trials over many years have shown the claims on productivity to be largely false with many heirloom varieties in fact outproducing their hybrid rivals across the entire harvest.

The modern industrial agricultural method of growing monocrops on a large scale and choosing varieties that have no relationship or adaptation to the locale in which they are grown invites pest and disease problems. Disease resistance has been bred into heirlooms over centuries with strong, healthy plants being continually selected.

Saving your own seed from heirloom varieties will further increase their performance. With each generation of seed saved, the variety grows more and more adapted to the local conditions. Soil, climate and season are added to the genetic makeup of the seed. Just as an heirloom tomato that has grown in a particular area of Italy for generations has adapted to grow best under Mediterranean conditions, seed selections from our own gardens will develop and improve each year until they are of our garden – an extension of our local conditions and the taste and vision of the gardener. It is only when our heirloom varieties have become creations of our gardens and gardeners that a true comparison can be made with the banal hybrids being peddled by multinationals.

The role of the home gardener

The alarming loss of so many heirloom varieties over the past 100 years has created the need to conserve our old varieties. The Seed Savers Exchange in North America, Diggers and others have worked diligently to save, maintain and in some cases bring back varieties that would otherwise be lost. This however is just a starting point.

The conservation of seeds and old varieties is necessary and admirable, but, if left at that, remains an exercise of conservation or horticultural archaeology. The home gardener has a role to play in the process too; that of growing, selecting and continuing to develop the living culture of our heirloom varieties.

Starting with open-pollinated heirloom seed varieties allows you to create your own locally adapted version of a variety and, with mindful selection, within a few generations you’ll be the steward of a ‘new’ strain that is adapted to your garden.

It is time to change our view of seeds, from that of a commodity we buy, plant and harvest each year, to one of our most important and treasured horticultural assets. They are something to be diligently cultivated, improved and selected year after year. When a gardener changes from being a consumer to being a producer, creator and curator of seed, they join a great horticultural tradition – their vision and expertise adding year after year to humanity’s shared gardening heritage.

Written by Julian Blackhirst, organic farmer and head gardener at The Garden of St Erth.