Heirloom vs. Hybrid Seeds

Heirloom seeds are unaltered seeds often handed down through generations of people. They sometimes have interesting histories - "brought over from the old country by Anna and carried west in a covered wagon". Most importantly, you can take the seed from the plant, save the seed, and next year when you plant that seed you will get the same exact plant. Hybrid seeds have been modified by combining several types of the same plant and when you plant their seeds, they can revert back to any of it's ancestors so you can't be sure of what you'll end up with. Heirloom seeds do tend to grow wonderfully delicious vegetables but if you grow several types of say, zucchinis, they can cross pollinate and next year's zucchini could be a mix of types. If you want to save the seeds, just grow one type of that particular vegetable that summer. Hybrid seeds can be designed to be disease resistant, which can be helpful. They are all good but I love my heirloom seeds as they are jewels of the garden passed hand to hand from one earth lover to another!