Simple steps to reviving heirloom vegetables in your backyard garden

Over the last 100 years, many once common forms of traditional vegetables have been lost from backyard gardens. Here's a simple guide to reviving these vegetables.

The development of large-scale commercial seed production along with widespread hybridization has gradually reduced the range of ­vegetable varieties in general use. With such a limited range of varieties being cultivated, there is a risk that many of those that have been discarded will be lost forever. However, seed-saving groups have been formed with the intention of bringing back many old-fashioned varieties into vegetable gardens. These groups maintain diversity among fruits and vegetables by keeping otherwise forgotten strains in the public domain. Seed saving is as much about saving as sharing. Seed-saving groups' two major roles are these:

1. Collecting and storing heirloom seeds from families who have been passing them down from generation to generation.
2. Distributing seed to gardeners who are encouraged to save some of the new crop's seed at the end of the season.

Old-fashioned varieties are also sometimes available by mail order.The main aim of resurrecting such varieties is to maintain plant bio-diversity by cultivating the widest possible range of types in each individual plant group.

• For example. there are almost 100 varieties of tomatoes that are worthwhile growing in the home garden, but only six to eight are common. Commercial varieties of vegetables destined for the supermarket shelves are often grown for their ability to survive the rigours of transportation and keep well for long periods in storage, but this is not a requirement for backyard produce.

When using non-hybrid seeds, it is wise to allow one or two robust, healthy plants in each crop to produce flowers and then seeds, so that these may be used the following season. By allowing a healthy plant to produce seed, you will be encouraging a better quality strain for the future. To reproduce plants that are true-to-type, seeds should come from non-hybridized plants as most hybrids have been bred for specific fruit or foliage characteristics, not reproduction; future generations are usually a throwback to their weedy ancestors, and in some cases the seed may not germinate. Gathering and storing seeds is not difficult.

1. Allow the plants to flower.
2. When the flowerheads are dry, pick them.
3. Keep them in a paper bag until the seeds have fallen off.
4. Finally, place the seeds in an airtight jar for planting the following season.

To prevent the seed from dropping before it has been collected, put a bag over the flower as it begins to dry out. With plants like pumpkin, zucchini, marrow, watermelon and cantaloupe, scoop out the seeds when preparing the fruit for the table and then allow them to dry in a dark place.

Most seeds are easy to collect. They can be allowed to drop off naturally, slid from their pods with a thumb, or winnowed. Those that retain pulp, such as tomato seeds, may require washing. Tomato seeds are a good starter as they are easy to save.

1. Scoop out the seeds from a ripe tomato.
2. Rinse them thoroughly with water through a sieve.
3. Dry them out by spreading them on paper towels or newspaper.
4. When completely dry they can be stored in an airtight container until the following spring.

There you have it -- a simple guide to reviving heirloom vegetables and planting them in your own backyard garden. Now it's time to find some heirloom seeds and get started!