On 11/10/2015 2:12 PM, sf wrote:
> On Tue, 10 Nov 2015 12:47:11 -0600, Moe DeLoughan >
> wrote:
>
>> Then again, the same can be said for the so-called 'survival' seeds.
>> Just plain old open-pollinated seeds that can be purchased in bulk for
>> about one one-hundredth of the price from actual seed companies.
>
> If I was saving seeds for the apocalypse, it would be heirloom
> varieties because I think they'd have the best chance at making it to
> harvest.
>

There's no legal definition of "heirloom seeds", so I'm not sure what
you mean by that. Open pollinated seeds are not hybrids, so they will
breed true from seed kept from year to year. The two basic issues with
such varieties are yield quantity and quality. It generally seems that
if the quality is outstanding, the yield is poor. A lot of the
old-time varieties are very good and good yielders, too, but a lot of
others are not the quality of newer hybrids. People who've never
tasted Golden Bantam sweet corn (one of the original old time sweet
corn varieties) would be in for a shock. Newer varieties are much
sweeter, crisper, better-yielding, and convert their sugar into starch
much more slowly. In short, the sweet corn you are eating now is
nothing at all like your grandparent's sweet corn. - it's a hell of a
lot better.