Grow a Historic Garden with Edible Heirlooms

By Bill Thorness, Editor

Last summer, I stood in the center of my garden contemplating the origin of the species growing at my feet. I was surrounded by heirlooms, from the first yellow flowers of the Brandywine tomato to the Alderman  peas towering overhead and the Chioggia beets digging their way into the soil. It was like a very diverse family reunion, with folks from the old country blending with immigrant elders and long-lost cousins.

Since my first Seattle garden, I’ve been attracted to heirloom vegetables. I was inspired by the idea of an old variety being kept alive from year to year, as seed is passed from one generation to the next. Twenty years ago, Seattle Tilth had a close connection with then-Port Townsend based Abundant Life Seed Foundation, from whose catalog many unique varieties sprouted in my garden. That organization and Tilth educators inspired me.

I’m still growing some of those varieties—producing the same plant with the same-sized fruit in the same number of days as they did for Thomas Jefferson, or Native Americans, or settlers, or perhaps even my ancestors.

What kind of trellis did Jefferson erect to hold up his Alderman—also known as Tall Telephone—pea vines? Our third president and fervent horticulturalist held a pea contest every year with his neighbors to see who could cultivate the first ripe peas. There’s no record of him ever winning the contest, but he often held the celebratory dinner, at the center of which was a dish of peas. Jefferson had a vegetable garden one thousand feet long, and he introduced many varieties that are in today’s heirloom collections. He also famously called himself, at the age of 68, “still a beginning gardener.”

The stories that come with these treasured seeds—a variety whose seeds were used as voting tokens by ancient peoples, a cultivar that was so popular it paid off the family mortgage—spur the imagination.

Below are three cool-season heirloom veggies good for early spring sprouting, when soil has warmed to 45-50 degrees. Give them a try—perhaps you’ll be starting your own heirloom tradition.

• Fordhook Giant chard: Grown in American gardens since 1750, it produces large, crinkled, dark green leaves with broad, white ribs and stems and juicy, celerylike stalks. Heavy production and great flavor.
• Green Deer Tongue lettuce: The thick, spearhead-shaped leaves of this variety, which obviously reminded early growers of a deer’s tongue, form a spiraling rosette of succulent, olive-green leaves growing to eight inches. It has been a favorite of the Amish people, who introduced their own varieties.
• Dwarf Grey Sugar pea: A snow pea growing on a bushy plant under three feet tall, this has been a standard home garden pea since Revolutionary times. It is one of the earliest producing peas, offering sweet, two- to three-inch pods in less than two months.

Bill Thorness’ new book, Edible Heirlooms: Heritage Vegetables for the Maritime Garden, was released in October from Seattle’s Skipstone Press. Get more information at www.edibleheirlooms.com. He will be signing books 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12 at Santoro’s Books, 7405 Greenwood Ave. N. in Seattle.