Going Vintage: Heirloom Veggies in Demand

Posted in Shop/Book Reviews, The Edible Garden on July 15 2009, by Plant Talk

Richard Pickett is Director of Retail Operations.

At your next family reunion picnic you may run into some long lost relatives. Perhaps you’d think distant cousins, twice removed on your mother’s side, but in fact Lazy Housewife, Radiator Charlie, and Collective Farm Woman are beans, tomatoes and melons, respectively, more likely to be found on your plate next to grandma’s famous potato salad than out back bobbing for apples or spitting watermelon seeds.

By definition, heirloom vegetables are vintage varieties that have been preserved by passing seeds down from generation to generation. Heirlooms have often been selected for taste, appearance, and eating quality, and the demand for heirloom vegetables is rapidly increasing, especially among gardeners looking for unique flavors and freshness. While many heirloom vegetables are now available at farm stands, varieties of tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers are the most popular.

Among edible heirlooms literally thousands of varieties are available, many handed down, others swapped with fellow gardeners, and a growing number purchased from the ever-expanding selection of specialty seed purveyors. For The Edible Garden, the Home Gardening Center’s Lois Loeb Vegetable Garden has been redesigned by Rosalind Creasy into New York’s best heirloom vegetable garden. Using seeds from Seed Savers Exchange, this garden features a bountiful array of beautiful and delicious heirloom vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers. Seed Savers Exchange is the foremost organization dedicated to preserving agricultural diversity through the preservation and sharing of heirloom seeds.

At Shop in the Garden, we offer a wide variety of heirloom seeds, exclusively from Seed Savers Exchange, as well a great selection of heirloom tomato, pepper, and eggplant seedlings. You can also find fabulous garden gear online. So whether you are a longtime heirloom vegetable advocate (and there are many) or simply a home gardener looking for more variety, flavor, and excitement in your harvest basket, give heirloom vegetables a try. Who knows, in our hectic day-to-day existence, it may just be time to find the Lazy Housewife in all of us.