We have it in the garden. It seems a difficult thing to get rid of, so I'm wondering whether there are any resistant heirloom varieties, or are we destined to grow resistant hybrids forever?

Is there a place where I can get a complete list of varieties? I am interested in a bush type that is a repeat bloomer.

.... http://www.thegreenhead.com/2006/10/magic-wish-beans.php

I am growing two varieties in containers, Rosalie's Early Orange and Plakos Prolific. I believe the Orange is an heirloom variety and the Plakos Prolific is just an unusually large and prolific cherry tomato that has been passed around among friends here in the midwest for some years, though not truly an heirloom (I can't find anything on it on the internet). Can anyone confirm or deny any of this? What about some background on these varieties? The second part of my question is this: the two varieties are separated by about 20' in my yard. Is this enough distance to ensure that the seeds will remain pure without any significant risk of genetic cross-contamination? I may want to hold over some seeds or pass them to fiends next year. Thanks!!!

What heirloom varieties would you recommend? There are so many - I never know what to choose! I used to get heirlooms at the farmers' market in Berkeley, CA. They had a few kinds. Cherokee Purple was my favorite - very rich flavor, but I liked some of the red varieties too. I might like to try some green varieties for frying. I am in Ohio now. What would you recommend that would be similar to what I like, rich and delicious? How about some verities with interesting stories?

I've already started my garden this season here in SC, and I'm looking at next year already. Any experience/recommendations? Here's what I'm looking for, and what I chose for this year. Tomatoes: Celebrity Costoluto Genovese Viva Italia Heirloom blend (5 varieties including Brandywine) Golden Rave (a yellow grape variety) Supersweet 100 Roma (the dog whacked them) Green Peppers: California Sweet (I'm not happy with the germination on these and will be looking for another next year) Cucumber: County Fair Alibi Beans: Borlotto Solista (for dry beans) Festina (for canning) Peas: Maestro I also have some yellow onion sets, a squash (Rumbo, looks kind of like a pumpkin) and Cantaloupe (Ambrosia), eating cukes (Pearl) plus some okra pass a long seeds, strawberries, raspberries and blueberries and a couple of herbs. I make jams, sauce, salsa, pickles, pies, and can what we don't eat fresh, but this is only my second time growing for canning. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I forgot to mention, except for Celebrity and Roma (may they rest, in pieces!), the berries and the squash herbs and onions (yellow storage is all I know about them), these are all new varieties for me. Pal, thank you so much for our answer. My youngest and I are out in the yard, watching the bumble bees. It's a really pretty day today, but all too soon it will be 100 deg in the shade and I won't want to poke a toe out while the sun is up. Clemson University (which is where our county extension office referred me) has excellent information on the technicalities of growing here in SC, but not so much information on which varieties hold up for canning/preserving nor do they factor in tastiness. As for lettuce and other greens, we ran through the packages of seeds that I had faster than expected (they grew like crazy in our yard, but the neighbors are just getting started, microclimates?) and we're kind of tired of salads at the moment. I'm using the space for onions now. I do have one tomato that the kids planted in the mint/oregano barrel, it's a German slicing tomato, and most of the heirlooms in the mix are also slicers. It sounds like you're really missing your garden!

or the one that taste like wine it just one of many varieties of the heirloom tomatoes?

I've heard about heirloom veggies for awhile now. Why do people choose them? For variety? I'm trying to decide what kind of tomatoes I want to grow.

I have 11 acres that are completely surrounded by urban development. They are "landlocked" and are not suitable for homes due to hills and valleys. There are foxes,turkeys,deer, groundhogs, rabbits, etc visiting the plot. Occasionally you see "volunteer" watermelons, tomatoes and other plants come up in the spring from discarded produce. Most current grocery produce is hybridized so subsequent generations tend to revert to plants similar to an ancestor.There are heirloom varieties of vegetables that breed true generation after generation. I would like to try an experiment where I plant varieties of food plants on my "farm" and leave them on their own to see how they would fare. It is unlikely for a successful plant to escape due to the geography and surrounding lawns/development. I already have pecan, hickory walnut and plum trees.