What you should know, but didn't know to ask...

Growing Your Own Food: Why Heirloom Seeds Are Better

iStock_000003568556Small

The Benefits of Growing Your Own Food

Growing your own food is a wonderful way to maintain control over what you eat and access to fresh ingredients. It is also a great way to eat healthy. However, the quality of the food that you grow will depend largely upon the quality of the seeds that you plant. You have many different choices when it comes to seeds, but your best option may be heirloom seeds. 

Check out a list of Heirloom stores by states that sell only heirloom seeds.

Why Heirloom Seeds are Better

Considered “antiques” of the seed world, heirloom seeds are seeds that have been handed down through generations. Although most people think of tomatoes when they hear the phrase “heirloom seeds,” heirloom seeds consist of specific varieties of many types of vegetables.

Heirloom seeds can be obtained from a seed exchange with farmers and growers who have classic seeds that they obtain from the vegetables they grow. The seeds handed down and traded in seed exchanges are chosen based on specific desirable characteristics, so you know when you purchase heirloom seeds you are obtaining a seed that people have valued in the past. The heirloom seeds also allow you to enjoy greater varieties of vegetables.

Why Heirloom Seeds Beat out GMOs

Heirloom seeds are better than many other kinds of seeds for a variety of reasons. Often, heirloom seeds are preferred over GMO seeds. GMO stands for genetically modified organism. These seeds are created by altering the DNA of plants in a lab.

GMOs have become increasingly common and popular for certain types of plants such as corn, squash, papaya, sugar beets and canola. Unfortunately, there are many concerns about whether GMOs are safe for the environment and/or safe for human consumption, since the genetically modified organisms have not been around long enough for long-term testing to be performed.

Therefore, we are not certain of the harm, if any, that these seed can cause to our bodies. Heirloom seeds offer no health concerns.

Heirloom Seeds Can Beat Out Organic Seeds

Organic seeds are harvested from organic plants, but the process of obtaining the seeds can be cumbersome. Organic seeds are very expensive – usually much more costly than heirloom seeds – and provide little benefit to make up for the added expense.

It is the growing process – and the lack of use of chemicals or pesticides – that make a food product organic, not the seeds. Since there is very little that could affect a seed and make it less healthy, there is little reason to pay a premium for organic seeds. Instead, you can choose hybrid seeds to enjoy the unique varieties and you can grow them in an organic growing style if you wish to avoid the use of pesticides and chemicals.

Choose Heirloom Seeds for Your Food Growing

If you want to ensure you have a seed that has stood the test of time and you want flexibility in the variety of vegetables that taste good and are nutritious, that you can grow without the worry of health issues, heirloom seeds are the right choice. The seed savers exchange offers a wealth of information about the types of heirloom seeds and the kinds of vegetables you can grow with them. Read the this resource for information about for maintaining and preserving the heirloom heritage.

Additional Resources

Videos

Education

Books

Apps

Print Friendly, PDF & Email