Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The other very cool aspect of sustainability that comes into play with heirloom varieties is the
ability to select for regional tolerances. For example, there is a tomato variety that originated
from Arkansas called the Arkansas Traveler and it is known for its heat and drought tolerance.
Meanwhile, Caspian Pink, which originated in Russia, is better suited for cooler climates. These
regional variances can actually help a backyard farmer who is planting heirloom varieties better
suited to their specific growing conditions.
So many varieties of plants are available via seeds as compared to commercially available transplants. For
the adventurous gardener, starting seeds is a must!
These tolerances developed naturally as each year homesteaders would select the best, healthiest,
tastiest, and most productive plants as the parent plants for next year's seeds. Plants that were less
tolerant of local growing conditions, pests, and diseases were eliminated as seed plants. So those
weaker genes were bred out of the variety. This makes it easier for gardeners who want to grow
their gardens using Earth-friendly, organic methods to do so.
One of the biggest concerns with the decline of heirloom breeds in the past 50 years is that of
genetic diversity. If all corn was exactly the same, it would be more easily threatened by a disease
outbreak or widespread pest infestation. But if there are 1,000 different types of corn, a disease out-
break might kill off a few strains of corn, but it's likely that others would have a natural immunity
or resistance. This genetic diversity has decreased in the last few decades so some gardeners are now
working hard to preserve heirloom varieties that might otherwise die out.
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