Why I Believe Every Kitchen Garden Should Have Heirloom (Desi) Seeds

These are juicy, full of flavour and so good that once you taste them, you start wondering why the tomatoes you buy from the market taste so bland. And it is not just tomatoes. Almost every desi vegetable we have grown on our farm and shared with friends and family has had the same effect.

This is one of the reasons I keep telling home gardeners to give desi, or heirloom, seeds a chance.

To start with the basics first, heirloom seeds are traditional varieties whose seeds have been saved and shared by families and farmers over many years. In India, we also call them Desi seeds. The two terms are closely related, although they are not exactly the same. Heirloom varieties can come from anywhere in the world, while desi seeds are native to India. Many regions across India have rich varieties of native seeds like Okra, Cauliflower Romanesco, Beet Ruby Red and many more.

If you want to grow desi vegetable seeds in your home garden, you can browse our vegetable seeds collection to find something that suits your space and the vegetables your family enjoys eating.

Coming back to taste, why do vegetables grown from heirloom seeds have better taste and flavour? The main reason is that commercial vegetables have to travel a long way before they reach our kitchen shelves. They need to survive harvesting, packing, transportation and storage, and still look fresh when they reach the local mandi, grocery stores or quick commerce stores. So, qualities such as firmness, uniform size and longer shelf life are very important when these vegetables are grown and sold commercially. Taste matters too, of course, but it is not the only thing growers and sellers have to consider.

And when you grow vegetables at home, you do not have to worry about any of this. You can just pick a tomato when it is ripe in your garden, bring it straight into your kitchen and eat it while it is fresh. You do not need it to survive on a shelf for days. You can choose varieties for their taste, not just for how long they stay looking good.

Heirloom vegetables are also a good source of nutrients. A study of 60 heirloom tomato varieties found that their nutritional content varied considerably, showing just how much goodness different varieties can offer.[1]

Desi seeds also carry something as important as taste and nutrition. They also carry stories and growing practices farmers or gardeners have perfected over years. The vegetables our grandparents grew decades ago and the seeds they saved from one season to the next because they loved their taste, farmers knew what performs best in local conditions, or neighbours shared seeds with one another. When we grow these varieties today, we help keep that knowledge alive for the next generation.

Growing heirloom varieties can also help maintain diversity in our gardens and food system. Some traditional varieties have traits that help them do well in the conditions where they developed. And when we grow a mix of vegetables and flowering plants around us, we can create a place that welcomes pollinators and other beneficial insects too. These are small choices, but they all add up to a healthier, more varied garden and a better environment at large.

I am also proud that the seeds we sell at AllThatGrows are non-treated. We believe home gardeners should be able to start with seeds that have not been chemically treated. There have been rare occasions when sticking to this promise has meant accepting a loss rather than compromising on it. It is not always the easiest business decision, but it is one we have chosen to stand by. When someone buys seeds from us to grow food for their family, we want them to have confidence in that choice.

I hope I have convinced you to try desi and heirloom seeds in your kitchen garden. Start with just one packet and taste the difference for yourself.

I would love for our children and grandchildren to know the taste of a truly delicious homegrown harvest, just as we remember from our childhood. And the best way to keep that taste alive is to keep growing the seeds that give us those flavours.

Happy Gardening!

Reference:

[1] Scientific Reference: Tripodi, P., D’Alessandro, A. & Francese, G. (2023). An integrated genomic and biochemical approach to investigate the potentiality of heirloom tomatoes: Breeding resources for food quality and sustainable agriculture. Read the study in Frontiers in Plant Science.