Preserving the Past

Well , it is the beginning of Harvest season here in Virginia - when the fruits and vegetables of the summer season are at their peak and the Autumn berries and root vegetables are coming into their own.

It was a difficult growing season this year , with our alternate wet season and then drought . A lot of my plants rotted earlier on in the season and late in the summer , withered and died. What did survive , held its own and has proven itself worthy of permanent residence in my new garden.
Gardening in Virginia is much different than in New England from where i hail.

For one there is an incredibly long growing season here - but not without its own challenges. Keeping a garden alive , thriving and fruitful here has proven to be a challenge . There are more pests to contend with for one - and they are ever-present , not so seasonal as in Massachusetts. As i am an Organic gardener this means hyper-diligence in pest control . I find myself handpicking loopers and aphids on a daily basis ( to help out the ladybugs and parasitic wasps that thankfully thrive here, too.) Not a job for the squeamish . And i have to hide them from my two year old son who loves ALL insects and lovingly refers to them all as ' bees' . He knows not of the insect caste system nor the term ' pest' . I will let him revel in his Shangri-la a little longer before recruiting him for 'squash' duty !

But i digress - the real reason for this post is to celebrate the greatness of the heirloom tomato - in all her striped and mottled glory. How hardy are these lovely orbs of succulence ! They survived all the plights of lesser more modern hybrids - blossom end rot , et all. and actually thrived this summer.
They have provided my kitchen with endless sources of delight. Whether sliced raw and warm off the vine with a fresh buffalo mozzarella and tender basil leaves, a rich olive oil drizzled on top ,making the freshest salad of the season or sliced and toasted on top of buttery english muffins in the morning with steaming mugs of cafe au lait - these rubenesque beauties are the very epitome of all that is good about summer. I hesitate to even cook them into a sauce - they are that good - just as they are - straight off the plant. Some of my favorite were "Mr. Stripey- a pale red with fine green striping , a pink beefsteak tomato named "Aunt Ginny's Purple and of course the popular "Brandywine" which is so dark it is almost purple. All of them delicious and worthy of a spot in any garden.
I have grown many varieties - old and new over the years and my heart always ends up with the Heirloom varieties . Not only important to preserve for ecological diversity but for the history of farming and this country's ancestral roots which spread out across the globe and back. It is important to remember where our food comes from . A new book on that very subject addresses this "agrarian blindness" that proliferates modern America ( and the world ) to great effect. It is called Kitchen Literacy : How we lost the knowledge of where food comes from and why we need it back- by Ann Vileisis . I highly recommend it.

Another good reason to grow your own Heirloom vegetables is that they almost always taste better and make for better cooking and preserving due to the fact that shipping long distance and shelf life aren't an issue. These are meant to be grown and enjoyed locally. It is also fun to see the amazing array of colors and shapes available in the vegetable world . Think primary colors versus an artist's palette. And by collecting your own seed after the harvest is done you will ensure another year of abundance in your own garden. Most hybrid seed is sterile , this is rarely the case with heirlooms.i saved seeds from my dill , bronze fennel , cilantro, thai basil and parsley so far ( see above) and i will be collecting beans, squash and tomato seeds in a few more weeks . I will let the last of the harvest go to seed and then dry on the vine before i gather them before the first frost .

Here are some useful links to get started on your own heirloom garden .

The Seed Saver's Exchange

Halcyon.com