Heirloom vs. Hybrid vs. Organic

I've been mulling this blog over in my mind for a few weeks now, doing a little research, trying to figure out the best way to make it informational, even though I'm still learning through trial and tribulation on all three of these subjects:  heirloom, hybrid, organic.  I guess I'll just lay out what I know and later on add info as I get it.

What I've come to realize is that there's a lot of information out there, some of it better than other.  Some people are extremely well-versed, some of us know a little, and a lot of people are pretty happy not having any knowledge of the differences between heirloom, hybrid, and organic.

For the purposes of this blog I'm going to assume the reader knows a little bit about each subject which is where I was at the beginning of the summer.  I have a history of working a couple seasons at a small locally-owned greenhouse business as well as going through the state training to become a Master Gardener about 6 or 7 years ago.  In both instances I had the opportunity to learn hands-on about hybrids vs. heirlooms and delve a little into the biology of the two.  In neither case did I have much exposure to "organic".  In South Dakota I think we can easily label our gardening methods many ways like hobby garden, truck garden, traditional garden, xeriscape garden, high production garden, etc., etc.  One method label I would hesitate to attach to most gardening in this rural agricultural area is "organic".

So let's just dive in and define and differentiate the topics:


Heirloom Tomatoes


Heirloom - an open-pollinated plant (bees, insects, wind) which maintains the qualities of its ancestor plant and when you keep a seed from an heirloom and plant it, you'll more than likely get another plant next year just like the one you had this year.  Of course now I have to throw in a disclaimer----if the helpful bees carried pollen from one lovely unique heirloom (let's say tomato) growing side by side with another lovely unique heirloom (tomato).....you may get a cross of those two heirloom tomatoes next year.  There are actually a few different interpretations of the term "heirloom", but all agree that "open pollination" is an absolute must and most agree that a lengthy time period, say 50 to 100 years, is necessary to consider a cultivar to be a true heirloom.

Hybrid Tomatoes

That leads me now to "hybrid".  To create a hybrid, two perfect specimens of a plant are chosen....a male with one kind of assets (let's say nice bulging.....form) and a female with another kind of asset,  let's say smooth skin.  Once the plants have been selected, the pollen-bearing anthers of the female plants are removed so that only pollen from the selected male plants can pollinate the female plant. The pollen is then manually transferred to the female plant and then the resultant cultivar provides this highly sought after round formed, smooth skinned tomato.  So now, in your garden, you determine that this round, smooth tomato is really wonderful and you want to grow the same one next year, so you keep some seeds out of one of the best tomatoes, dry them carefully, and plant them next spring to get another year of really fantastic round, smooth tomatoes, right?  Probably not.  Your tomatoes next year are probably going to be something totally different because you allowed your garden tomatoes to open pollinate and did not follow the same painstaking process the original growers utilized.  There's no telling what your new tomatoes will look like or taste like and the only way you will get that same exact perfect hybrid tomato is by going back and buying hybrid seed (or plants grown from that seed) from the company.  This is great for the plant breeders and the seed companies because they have a dedicated clientele year after year, coming back to buy that seed or the plants grown from the seed which is only produced by the plant breeder.

Seed Packets

 Chances are, you buy your seed every year anyway, whether it's heirloom or hybrid, so this may or may not be a big deal to you.  When it may become a big deal is if you decide you want to step up the number of plants you grow of a specific cultivar and you don't necessarily want to invest in all of that seed if you can dry it yourself from your own produce.  You can produce your own seed if you've been growing heirlooms, but not if you've been growing hybrids.

While we're talking about hybrids and heirlooms, let's delve into other reasons why hybrids have become so popular over the past several decades and these are my favorites.  We can narrow it down to a couple main obvious reasons:  better modes of and faster transportation (great interstate highways and refrigerated tractor trailers) and fast food restaurants.  This is a topic which is well-detailed in many books worth reading, so I'll just cover the high points here.  The popularity of fast food restaurants created a need for the cheapest food possible to be shipped as quickly as possible.  When you're talking about fruits and vegetables that are being sliced and diced and thrown onto burgers or salads, the focus is no longer on eye-pleasing shapes and colors and full flavors, but instead on how many can fit into a box while still green, be shipped across the country in a truck, and then hold a walk-in cooler shelf life as long as possible?  Or in the case of your local grocery store......same steps 1 and 2, but then hold a produce aisle shelf life as long as possible.

So now let's jump to topic #3 and contemplate "organic".  And I have to let you know right up front, this one is a touchy spot for me and here is the reason......a food does not have to be conscientiously grown to be labeled "organic".  Nor does it have to be a great cultivar to be labeled "organic".  Any hybrid or "picked green, cross country shipped, stored on the shelf" fruit or vegetable can be labeled organic as long as the water is right, the soil is right, and the fertilizer is right.  I'm over simplifying a bit here, but really, just having something labeled "organic" is not an assurance that you're doing the best you can for your body or your family.  I'm always a little baffled at my friends who order their produce which is shipped on a truck from Oregon or California so they can have "organic".

Here is what I know about organic and I'm going through a learning curve right now, so bear with me.  I may need to amend some of these thoughts as I learn more.

A plant or seed can be an heirloom OR a hybrid and still be organic as evidenced in the many, many seed catalogs.  A plant or seed can NOT be genetically modified and still be organic......this is a good thing that appears to be a firm truth at this time.

When growing something organic you have to take into account many things:

• What has been sprayed on your growing soil in the past and how long ago?
• Have the animals producing the manure/fertilizer been given any antibiotics or growth hormones?
• Have any synthetic fertilizers or other additives been put into the water used for the plants?
• Have any synthetic treatments been applied to the wood or the framing involved in the structures where the plants are grown?
• Do you utilize any synthetic pesticides or herbicides in the areas of or surrounding your gardens and how close?

So normally I truly do somewhat dismiss the "organic" label on something I'm going to eat and I pay more attention to how locally it was produced and by whom.  In the workings of my mind, I would rather know that something was conscientiously grown locally and support THAT practice rather than demand that something be true "organic" and then support the oil industry so that I can have that organic, shelf-ripened piece of produce shipped to my door.

But, in the interest of providing all things to all people (:-) I believe I will delve into the organic world and see what I can do locally.  My husband and I have an opportunity that a lot of people don't have.....we have the necessary space to experiment with crops, animals, irrigation, greenhouses, and all of that.  I believe I have the necessary knowledge and willingness to learn through process to give it a fair shot.  We have a lot of interested friends and family who are willing to help us along, even if that just means tasting the tomatoes when they're ripe (straight from the vine)!  But most of all, I truly do want what is the best and the healthiest for my friends and family, so obviously utilizing organic methods to do my gardening is just a logical practice and I look forward to incorporating those methods for everyone's well-being.

Michelle Grosek
Bear Butte Gardens
Michelle@BearButteGardens.com
http://www.bearbuttegardens.com/