Heirloom vs. Hybrid
That is the true question.
While in a perfect world we could all be idealistic and grow organic in rock free soil using on the rarest of heirloom seeds, yield huge harvests that would just fly off the market tables as people grab for all things rare, exotic, unusual, and different, sadly that is not the case in the real world.
People, for the most part, want what is familiar, what is cheap, and what they know how to use. The want big beautiful heads of lettuce that could double as a centerpiece, or they want prebagged and washed convenience salads. They want crisp stringless green beans, blemish free summer squash, and pretty strawberries the size of a child’s fist. They want their food cheap and plentiful, they want all foods available regardless of season, and they want it to store well.
That is not heirloom, that is (click on that link it is great!!!) at its best.
Last season we followed organic practices and used all heirloom seeds, while a small percentage of our customers were pleased with what we had to offer, many were unimpressed. They did not like how fast the lettuce wilted, the small size of the strawberries (only one bite per berry), the small brown spots on the summer squash or the texture of the green beans. Those looking for heirloom took it all in stride and happily came back for more week after week; those just looking for organic, or fresh produce however continued on to other booths.
Hybrid is not all GMO’s and world ending seeds, some are types of roses (most roses in the marketplace today are hybrids), apples that will grow in warmer weather, green beans with out the strings, or any of the fanciful gourd shapes seen in todays marketplace.
This year we will be going hybrid. Some of our plants will still be heirloom, the strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and potatoes. the rest will all be replaced with hybrid varieties; squash, pumpkins, green beans, carrots, lettuce, and the like.
While we are all idealists inside, we live in the real world where we must produce enough food to sustain our family as well as have plenty to sell to our customers. So we are making concessions. While we do not want to give up organic as it would be very time consuming to regain, and organic has proven health benefits for many (okay, no one should consume chemical pesticides), we are willing to push heirloom to the back-burner in order to help our business survive, thrive, and grow. maybe in the future when we have built up a customer base and have farm hands to help we will be able to revisit the heirloom issue again.
We grow a balance of heirloom and hybrid. Some of the former are very much worth preserving while the latter serve to fill the freezer with predictable crops of healthy vegetables. Not every advance in production techniques is a bad thing and I wouldn’t trade my se sweetcorn for anything.
Sometimes it takes some experimenting with different heirlooms to find what grows well in your area. I’m not a purist and enjoy several hybrid varieties of veggies, but overwhelmingly we produce quite beautiful heirlooms that beat out hybrids in taste tests every time. I’ve found that growing small amounts of a few varieties helpful to determine which grow best for me.
Maybe instead of it being all or nothing, you could plant the hybrids for the volume you need for market while experimenting with some of the heirlooms on a smaller scale?
Sad to see a bit of idealism die to practicality…you are marketplace virgins no longer…DO keep a bit of that pure idealism-plant a little of an heirloom to put next to your hybrids on the table–let people know how old the seed stock is and call yourself a preservationist-novelty sales will keep that going and hybrid can feed your family.
I am having a BLAST here!–your snow follows my cursor-both the direction AND speed!!–I have snow enabled too-must go see if it does on mine! LOL
Hi Robin. I guess I am with Danielle, you can do a bit of both, but I also like what Dandelionmom says, so don’t let your dreams die. A lot of farming is educating your public! What I do for a living is have my pie-in-the-sky ideas and then have my bread-and-butter stuff that gets the bills paid. Maybe that would work for you guys too? Like, put a premium on the rare tiny strawberries but hope to make most of your dough on the spotless hybrids?
The single most honest article I’ve seen written about heirloom since the day I began reading in earnest about heirloom. Thank you.