Heirloom seeds – buzzword or the future of vegetables?
Heirloom-seed dealers Shannon Draper of The Gravel Garden in Somerset West, Vanessa Jacobs of Sow Delicious in Wilderness, and Sean Freeman of Livingseeds in Henley-on-Klip talk old cultivars.
What are heirloom seeds?
“In broad terms, they come from a plant that’s existed for more than 50 years and has never been changed by plant breeders or genetically manipulated by scientists,” says Vanessa. “These plants are pollinated naturally by wind, water or insects. The seeds are saved and, once planted, will grow into plants with the same characteristics as the original plant. This isn’t the case with hybrid or genetically modified seeds.”
Why is there currently such an interest in heirloom seeds?
“People yearn for the days when vegetables tasted good,” says Sean. “When tomatoes were deep red; beans were crunchy, sweet and full of flavour; and carrots were not only orange but also delicious.”
What makes them so good?
“Vegetables grown from heirloom seeds are full of vitamins and without chemicals,” says Sean. “The seeds haven’t been genetically fiddled with and there’s no patent that prohibits you from saving and planting them. If you store the seeds of the mother plant, you can plant them again without it costing you a cent.”
“By planting heirloom seeds, and harvesting those seeds in turn and sharing them with others, you’re helping to preserve ‘clean’ seeds for future generations,” says Vanessa. “Ever since legislation governing seed propagation was introduced in the Seventies that made it illegal to sell seeds that aren’t on the approved ‘varieties list’, more than 2 000 vegetable variants have gone extinct.
“Almost all vegetables in the supermarket and vegetable seedlings in nurseries come from bastardised seed. Heirloom seeds make having a vegetable garden exciting again. Round carrots, yellow beets or purple peppers are just a few of my favourites that we don’t see in the shops.”
“It’s important to preserve the old, tasty varieties,” says Shannon. “Commercial farmers avoid them and they’re disappearing rapidly. Besides, it’s also empowering to harvest and store seeds, and it’s a wonderful skill to teach a child.”
Best veggies for beginners?
“I always recommend tomatoes to vegetable-gardening novices,” says Shannon. “Few things come close to the taste of a sun-ripened tomato from your own garden. Lettuce, herbs, spinach, beans and peas are also easy vegetables with which to start.”
thegravelgarden.co.za sowdelicious.co.za livingseeds.co.za