Preserving our garden heritage for a sustainable future.

Today, here in North America, gardeners are blessed with perhaps the greatest cornucopia of vegetable varieties anywhere. This is due to the countless tribes of agrarian people whose adaptations to local conditions and extensive use and distribution of native plants has left arguably the greatest legacy of food crops anywhere in the world. This, combined with the masses of immigrants who have swarmed (or were forced) here, has provided us with cherished vegetable seeds from every corner of the planet.

Heirloom Varieties: An Endangered Tradition

Our ancestors saved seeds out of necessity for survival. Seeds were selected for such desirable characteristics as taste, freshness, size, extended harvest, and above all else, adaptation to local conditions and resistence to local diseases and pests. These qualities contrast remarkably with those sought by large commercial growers, whose priorities are: yield, uniformity, ease of mechanical harvesting, tolerance to chemical fertilizers and .pesticides, ability to withstand the rigors of long-distance shipping and handling, and maintaining a fresh appearance over an extended shelf life.

The selection and refinement by non-industrial gardeners and growers over tens, hundreds, even thousands of years has culminated in the development of countless "heirloom" varieties. An heirloom variety is one which owes its very existence to home gardeners or private individuals rather than the seed trade. These include varieties developed commercially which at some point were dropped by the seed trade and would have been lost had they not been preserved by such individuals or groups. In addition, many commercial varieties have been around so long (at least fifty years) that they are often referred to as heirlooms by seed companies and others in order to boost their attractiveness to buyers. While fundamentally akin to heirlooms (they can be preserved and reproduced year to year) most serious preservationists refer to these as traditional varieties.

Traditional and Other Commercial Non-Hybrid Varieties Rapidly Fade

In recent years, many of this land's most weft-known non-hybrid varieties have steadily been disappearing from commercial catalogs. These varieties have evolved from the same ancient tradition of seed saving as heirloom varieties, but often were further refined by public breeding programs.

Before World War II, it was America's food industry along with public institutions who were responsible for the majority of these commercial introductions. Afterward, it was taken over by chemical companies, and ultimately biotechnology firms. Today, active vegetable breeding programs at agricultural experimental stations and land-grant universities have largely been abandoned and continue to rapidly decline. In addition, tremendous consolidation within the garden seed industry has and is occurring. Agribusiness giants have been buying out smaller seed companies only to replace their regionally-adapted collections with more profitable hybrids and patented varieties, which grow reasonably well in areas across the country, albeit with bland and ordinary-looking results.

Hybrid Varieties Gain Dominance

The primary factor for this general decline of garden diversity within the mainstream seed industry has been the massive shift to hybrid varieties. These proprietary cultivars usually sell for much higher prices than "open-pollinated" (non-hybrid) seeds. Plus, the seeds they produce are generally worthless for replanting (they will not grow true to type, if they are not sterile), forcing growers to repurchase the seeds annually. Their parentage can be kept secret so others can not reproduce them.

The argument that proponents of hybridization generally make is in the merits of the phenomena known as "hybrid vigor." This synergistic effect is only evident in out-breeding crops such as corn and Brassicas (broccoli, cabbage, etc.) It is foolish to believe that hybrid tomatoes, eggplant, or lettuce are any better than their open-pollinated counterparts.

Gardeners as Stewards of Biodiversity

A vast array of the best home garden varieties ever developed are now available. Yet so many are in immediate danger of being lost forever. As gardeners and growers, we are but the latest link in a tradition of stewardship of this invaluable and irreplaceable genetic heritage stretching back over 10,000 years. These varieties represent an interwoven fabric of both natural and human history which can link us in a very tangible way to our ancestors. But the true value of preserving this genetic diversity is immeasurable.

The importance of crop diversity has been demonstrated throughout history. The Irish potato famine is perhaps the most famous example of crop loss due to lack of diversity. Closer to home, a more recent example was in 1970 when, due to corn blight, over fifteen percent of the entire US corn crop was wiped out. If and when new diseases, pests, or other problems resulting from climate change and global warming threaten to wipe out agricultural production, it will most likely be a little-known, little-grown variety to provide the genes needed .to save the crop. Hopefully the genetic material needed won't have been lost to disinterest, or worse, ignorance.

Fortunately, in recent years, a grass roots movement composed of individuals, seed-saving networks, and regional seed companies has made these older varieties available to farmers, breeders, and backyard gardeners alike. Most noteable of these is the Seed Savers' Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. There, they maintain a collection of an astounding 24,000 different varieties, attempting to multiply 10% of it each year in a ten year rotation, all to preserve garden diversity in the public domain. For information on saving seeds and maintaining varietal purity, see Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth. This fine manuscript details seed saving methods for hundreds of different garden crops, as well as regional growing recommendations for each.

Home gardeners can become a small but significant link in the chain: by finding, growing, saving, increasing, and sharing special seeds; by patronizing the seed companies that carry these varieties (or the local growers who do); and by supporting the work of organizations that are helping to preserve this irreplaceable genetic heritage for future generations to enjoy.

Jeffrey McConnaughey manages Homegrown Heritage Bio-Intensive "mini-farm" in Candler, NC, which offers CSA membership, crop consultations, seed saving workshops, and produce sales. He is attempting to bring together a regional seed savers network/sand bank, inventorying the region's genetic resources. www.buyappalachian.org