Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the Maritime Garden

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Edible Heirlooms | Bill Thorness

Today we call these seeds heirlooms. How does it reflect our food culture? Heirlooms are vegetables or fruits that come to us from another time, sprouted from seeds that have continued to adapt to each new climate, just as their human carriers did. This means that the seed is at least a half-century old many are much more ancient and is being singled out for preservation because of some danger of extinction. Today, a vast majority of our vegetable heritage has been lost or discarded through a combination of neglect, commercial seed company consolidation and changing lifestyles.

As our country has developed, most of us have lost our roots in agriculture. In the course of the 20th century, farming as an occupation went from 38 percent in to less than 1 percent today.

Table Hopping: Savoy Bar & Grill

As our farm population dwindled, so did biological diversity. In a study of the U.

Edible Heirlooms

Department of Agriculture listings of 75 vegetable and fruit species being grown on farms between and , the number of varieties had shrunk by 93 percent. As farms got larger and seed sources were concentrated into fewer hands, heirloom varieties were replaced by industrially suited hybrids.

Hybrids are created by cross-pollinating plants to uncover more desirable traits, such as size uniformity for shipping or a longer shelf-life for retailing. More recently, hybridization shifted from the field to the laboratory, a trend staunchly opposed on many fronts that has resulted in genetically modified varieties, many of which are now proprietary to their sellers. As a result, the food of our ancestors is not widely available to us today. Counteracting these trends are committed small farmers, seed-saving activists and home gardeners determined to perpetuate and enjoy heirloom varieties.

Many preservationists who value heirlooms are driven by the desire to retain culturally significant foods.

But perhaps the greatest driving factor to grow heirlooms comes from people who are eager for the flavors, aromas and uniqueness of the foods they remember from the past: The Cherokee Purple tomato holds just such allure. This wine-like, dusky tomato that can be readily found in nurseries as seeds or seedlings was not too many years ago an unknown treasure.

Green of Tennessee in Green told the story of the seeds being shared by neighbors, who said it had been in their family for years, originally received from the Cherokee people. Cultivated, named and introduced to the seed trade by LeHoullier, it is now a staple for tomato lovers for its sweet, rich flavor.

The reddish purple globes have green streaks across their shoulders, with the purple and green bleeding into the firm, solid flesh. While many heirlooms come from the Mediterranean and the Near East, the Americas also hold centers of origin for entire genera of edible plants.

Corn originated as maize in Mexico, where traditional farmers still allow its ancient ancestor teosinte to grow along the edges of the fields to breed hardiness into their many varieties.

Beans, chiles and squash can be traced to the American Southwest and ancient Mesoamerica. Many heirloom seeds and plants made roundabout trips with seafaring explorers before they reached the American table.

Book Information

That was the path of the potato, which originates in the Andes of Peru. Potatoes were carried in ships from South America to Europe and eventually brought to the U. But one modest fingerling potato can trace its lineage directly up the West Coast of the Americas.

The Makah were first given the familiar tuber by Spanish explorers in the late s who had sailed up from South America with their rooty booty. The Makah people have cultivated it for generations, and it is now listed on the U. Jenny H rated it it was amazing Apr 21, Jen Harwood rated it really liked it Feb 23, Elizabeth rated it really liked it Oct 07, Allie rated it liked it Aug 04, Agnes rated it it was amazing Nov 15, Chris Shaffer rated it really liked it May 03, Jun 27, Alisa Kester rated it it was amazing Shelves: I adore planting heirlooms, and I found many more to try.

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Bill Thorness is a writer, gardener and cyclist who has been doing all three in Seattle since the mids. His second bicycling guidebook, Cycling the Pacific Coast: His first cycling book, Biking Puget Sound: He is the author of two gardening books: Bill gives presentations on edible gardening regularly around the Northwest, and occasionally leads bike tours. He writes for regional print and online publications, and is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists. View his garden writing at coolseasongardener. Books by Bill Thorness.

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