There are several definitions of Heirlooms........
Heirloom– An heirloom is generally
considered to be a variety that has been passed down, through several generations of a family because of it’s valued
characteristics. Since ‘heirloom’ varieties have become popular in the past few years there have been liberties
taken with the use of this term for commercial purposes. Heirloom tomato experts, Craig LeHoullier and Carolyn Male, Ph.D.
have classified down heirlooms into four categories:
- Commercial Heirlooms: Open-pollinated varieties introduced before 1940.
- Family Heirlooms: Seeds that have been passed down
for several generations through a family.
- Created Heirlooms: Crossing two known parents (either two heirlooms or an heirloom and a hybrid) and dehybridizing
the resulting seeds for how ever many years/generations it takes to eliminate the undesirable characteristics and stabilize
the desired characteristics, perhaps as many as 8 years or more.
- Mystery Heirlooms: Varieties that are a product of natural cross-pollination of other
heirloom varieties.
(Note: All heirloom varieties are open-pollinated but not all open-pollinated varieties are heirloom varieties.)
