A: Hybrid plants are created by cross-pollinating two varieties to create a third variety. If you save and plant seed from a hybrid tomato, the resulting fruit will not be identical to its parent. Hybrid seeds first became available around 1930 and are generally patented by the company that developed them. With open-pollinated varieties you can save seed from this year's fruit, plant it, and get the same tomato next year, just like farmers and gardeners have done for thousands of years. Natural and deliberate cross-pollination is possible and you may get an interesting variety of your own! The term heirloom implies that a particular plant variety originally passed down within families through the generations. From a reproductive standpoint, all heirloom varieties are open-pollinated. In my part of the country, folks refer to heirlooms as "ol' timey" varieties and means "a good tastin' tomato like Grandma grew".

 

A: Before the days of chemical herbicides and pesticides, heirloom varieties were selected and cultivated by early farmers and gardeners to improve foliage and fruit characteristics and disease resistance. That tomato needed to look out for itself naturally! The best fruit was selected from the best plant and the seed saved to create the next generation of plants. Hybrids are also created to improve certain characteristics of the plant, but you can't save the seed. If you are looking at round red uniformly shaped tomato that has a long shelf life, are probably looking at a hybrid. If you are looking for multiple colors, shapes, and flavors, you will find lots of choices in heirloom varieties. While you may not be interested in saving seed yourself, you are helping to maintain biodiversity by supporting people who are keeping these varieties alive in our rapidly narrowing food system.