By: Charlene Rennick
The debate continues for dedicated heirloom seed saving hobbyists and serious collectors with private or public seed vaults: is there a definitive point in time at which a seed can be identified as an heirloom?
Standardizing the Definition of Heirloom
An interesting point of reference for dedicated heirloom seed seekers is the origin of the seed. The convoluted history of the seed and integrated diversity from which it originated leads to a corresponding difficulty identifying and standardizing a definition of said seeds.
Heirloom seed enthusiasts appreciate the seed for its natural evolution, open-pollination genesis and manufacture-free authenticity, yet it is this very attribute that makes it elusive to verification and control by heirloom seed seekers.
The quandary is that heirloom, by definition, means it is a result of open pollination. There is no hybridizing, controlled environment or selective reproduction. If an heirloom seed produces a plant that has desirable characteristics over and above any other variety, preserving it in any way or restricting the pollination variables, will condemn it as a hybrid. Sowing the seed and letting nature take its course is part of the uniqueness of the heirloom varieties. Contaminating the pollen, even through open pollination with the pollen of a hybrid, exposes the seed to censure.
Hybrids Infiltrate the Market in the 1950s
The age of seeds is among the topics of controversy. Some contend that any seed originating after 1950 is not an heirloom variety. Denouncing any seed developed after the introduction of hybrids in the 1950s, solves the problem for some. Others argue that seeds which pre-date World War II are the only genuine recipients of heirloom status.
While the debate over lineage will continue, there is some substance to the dispute that excluding seeds from Heirloom status simply because they were packaged by a commercial seed company, is taking the definition a bit too literally. Does it need to be rare to be an heirloom? Is it possible to accept that a good quality variety which germinates and cultivates easily can be mass marketed by an Heirloom-compassionate company? Often, large commercial plots devoted to open pollination sow and then harvest seeds only from the parent plant. Seeds are saved and stored for the purpose of re-sowing them. Hubbard squash, seeded melons, potatoes and pumpkins have been great examples of successful open pollinated varieties.
Heirloom Seeds: Rare Treasure or Mainstream Expectation?
Diminishing the quality and reputation of an heirloom seed because it has enjoyed commercial success or because it is available for mainstream purchase, doesn’t make it less of an heirloom simply because it isn’t rare. Heirloom characteristics isolate their hardiness as cultivars; they germinate easily and flourish readily. Because plants are allowed to evolve, we continue to enjoy the quality that random selection provides for us.