Heirloom Vegetable Seeds

Imagine growing a pumpkin that was also present on the Pilgrim's table at the first Thanksgiving dinner. Or eating a tomato that shares the same seeds that Thomas Jefferson planted in his gardens at Monticello. Heirloom vegetable seeds give you the opportunity to link your conscious gardening to a colorful and vibrant past that championed deep, heady taste with dynamic colors and shapes. Heirlooms can be found in varieties like okra, bean and collard seeds, along with more than 300 others, and they’re sure to conjure up feelings of nostalgia and comfort.

Eden Brothers' heirloom seed collection has a richer history than you’ll find in any textbook. Over the years, we’ve collected over 300 heirloom seed varieties, and each one tells the story of a particular place and time. From the classic slicer tomato, Brandywine, to the delicious cherry tomato, Sweetie, we stand behind all of our heirloom seeds for their superior quality and genetics.

An heirloom vegetable is any open-pollinated cultivar that has been grown for at least 50 years or more. Some heirloom vegetable seeds were developed by seed companies back in the day, and many more have been preserved by individual families and communities, passed down through the generations until handing off their treasured genetics to the public.

Heirloom seeds produce vegetables that taste far better and are exponentially more nutritious than other seeds. At Eden Brothers, we think that heirloom vegetable seeds are the cream of the crop. The flavors are far more intense, the colors richer, and the plants themselves more unique. While any homegrown vegetable is nutritious, heirloom vegetable seeds are even more so a superfood than the common garden vegetable.

Heirloom vegetables seeds are reliable. These open-pollinated varieties are sure to come back true, the genetics producing the same plants today that they produced half a century ago. By design, heirloom vegetable seeds are better adapted to the region that they originated in than hybrids. Heirloom seeds can be grown in other zones than their originating region, but for growers in that same region, heirloom vegetable seeds will already be naturalized to that particular area and its pests and common diseases.

Growing heirloom vegetable seeds can be just a bit more of a challenge than growing hybrid vegetable seeds, but the extra effort is so worth it! Show off your green thumb and impress your friends by growing rare and unique heirloom vegetable seeds that you serve at the dinner table. You’ll have everyone hooked, returning to you year after year for your delicious and beautiful heirloom vegetables.

Grow heirloom vegetable seeds and help preserve biodiversity in the world’s seed stock. The best part about heirloom vegetable seeds is that you can save your own seeds, which is a fun project, especially for kids! Because heirloom plants are open-pollinated, they produce viable seeds. But know that if you plant the different heirloom varieties close together, the resulting seed will be a cross between the two parents. So grow some of your own seed selections for fun, but turn to Eden Brothers for guaranteed heirloom varieties from year to year.

If you need yet another reason to grow heirloom vegetable seeds, consider it an act of advocacy for the environment. Diversity is slipping out of the world’s seed stock, and by purchasing heirloom vegetable seeds you are ensuring the survival of a wide variety of rare and unique vegetable varieties.

Peruse Eden Brothers' catalog of over 300 heirloom vegetable varieties for the perfect vegetable for your garden and your plate; then learn how to plant them in our Vegetable Seeds Planting Guide. Maybe one of these heirloom varieties will become your own treasured family heirloom!