heirloom variety
Old-fashioned plant type
An heirloom variety is a plant cultivar that has been passed down through generations, typically predating modern industrial agriculture.
These varieties are open-pollinated, meaning seeds saved from the harvest will produce plants true to the parent.
Gardeners prize heirloom tomatoes, beans, and other vegetables for flavor and genetic diversity that commercial breeding often sacrifices for shelf life and uniformity: She grows heirloom tomatoes that her grandmother brought from Italy.
- tomatoRed culinary fruit
- seedsPlant embryos in casings
- seed savingPreserving plant material for replanting
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- passed downTransmitted through lineage
antique · garden · Victory Garden · organic · back to basics · from scratch · vintage · cultivar · open-pollinated · saved · grandmother · harvest · traditional · old fashioned · orchard · biodiversity · Cherokee · purple
- breedingselective breeding, breeder, crossbreeding, mating, breeding pair