Midseason Update on Heritage Seeds

Well summer is almost half over here in the Midwest and so is the growing season for many of my plants in my vegetable garden. Earlier this year, I wrote an article on heritage seeds and even posted some pictures of my young seedlings growing in my mini greenhouse. Many of my readers wanted me to let them know how well or not well, these seeds worked out for me. I was going to wait until fall to give a report, but because I have some vegetables that have produced, I decided to give an interim report.

Heritage Seeds/Plants I Planted

-Broccoli
-Brussels sprouts
-Tomatoes (2 varieties)
-Okra
-Peppers (2 varieties)
-Pole beans
-Cucumber
-Corn
-Carrots
-Zucchini
-Lettuce (3 varieties)
-Peas
-Pumpkin

First, let me say that the weather in April, May and June was good with mild temperatures and plenty of rainfall. However, when July began so did the hot temperatures and less rain, which has influenced my plant growth and ability to produce a good yield.

VegetablesThat Have Done Well

I planted three varieties of Romaine lettuce and they all grew well and tasted great. The Peas also did well, but I did have to reseed in a few places and I should have planted more rows. The growing season for these two vegetables is over, so I planted some annual flowers where they use to be.

Broccoli, cucumbers, okra, pole beans, and peppers are doing great. It seems the broccoli just does not want to quit growing. Cucumbers are loaded with blooms and I get about two to three cucumbers a day. I only have about six okra plants but they are also doing well. I did not have a good trellis for my pole beans, but I was able to rig up some tomato stakes and twine in order to help them branch out and grow tall. Next year I am buying a trellis. My Hungarian purple peppers are outdoing my green bell peppers, but overall both are doing well and taste great.

Vegetables That Have not Done Well

My tomato plants had many blooms early in the season and these produced tomatoes that are now starting to turn red. The plants were growing and producing new blooms, however the extremely hot temperatures have dried up the blooms, so I doubt if I get many more tomatoes.

Carrots have done fair. Zucchini has many blooms but the yield has not been great, only about six so far. The blooms have also dried up due to the heat, which is what happened to my pumpkin. The corn was doing great until a storm came through and flattened almost all of it to the ground.

I have noticed vegetables grown from heritage seeds do have a richer taste than those from genetically engineered seeds. Heritage seeds are supposed to be more susceptible to insects and disease, but I have not seen that. I believe that weather played the biggest part in the yields I got this year. Next year I will plant heritage seeds again, but I think I will be more selective in the varieties I choose.