Heirloom Seeds or Flinty Hybrids?

[lsanderson]

Heirloom seeds at the Petaluma Seed Bank in California. Is all of the buzz worth it? More Photos »
By MICHAEL TORTORELLO
Published: March 23, 2011
AS gardeners stock up on heirloom seeds for spring, Rob Johnston, the chairman of Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Winslow, Me., would like to suggest an accessory. Why not buckle up in a 1936 Oldsmobile coupe? More

Comments

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

From my point of view (as a home-gardener in Southern California) that's a superb article. Yup, "Heirloom" seeds are as much of a mixed bag as modern F1 ones, and perhaps moreso (depending on the climates in which they were developed, among other things).

Mind you, most (I think) home gardeners tend to be Gamblers, and don't object to the mixed-bag quality -- we rather like the idea of taking the chance that something will be superb, rather than dependable-but-blah. And the increasing availability of Asian vegetables and strains is marvelous (even though it's likely to take years for me to figure out the intricacies of strains and planting times for pak choi so it doesn't bolt immediately to bloom).