Heirloom Seeds

Heirloom seeds are ancient open-pollinated seeds from varieties that are at least 50 years old

Heirloom seeds at Sow Diverse are ancient seeds varieties of ancient or forgotten vegetables, culinary herbs and fruits from Europe, and any other part of the world. Heirloom seeds or Heritage seeds come from open-pollinated plants that pass on similar characteristics and traits from the parent plant to the child plant. An Heirloom seed (or heritage seed) has one parent plant. It is interesting to note that the definition of Heirloom seeds may not be the same for all gardeners. Some gardeners will say that Heirloom plants are those that were introduced before the last 50 years, while others will say that Heirloom varieties are those introduced before the 1920's. In general, an Heirloom variety is a plant variety that has a history of being passed down within a family or community and has been around for a long time. Therefore, Heirlooms are seeds that are possible to regrow and pass on from one generation to the next for the purpose of conserving these varieties.