new OP vs old heirlooms

[Little Minnie]

Do you think that newly bred open pollinated cultivars should be considered heirlooms with actual old heirlooms or not? Should the new ones be separated from the old or all lumped together? I am just wondering what people think about it.

[Longtail]

no, because traditionaly heirlooms have been passed down. But then, today tradition in America seems irrelevant and is often belittled by some. I suppose that would apply to seeds/plants also?.

[Billy B]

I favor the term OP over heirloom that way there is no doubt what it is. If there turns out that there is a history to the OP, I buy, then thats a bonus. All heirlooms are OPs but not all OPs are heirlooms

[GennyL]

Call me old fashioned but I think heirlooms HAVE to be old, Champagne HAS to come from France and diamonds do NOT come from the microwave

[Tom C]

Heirloom is a fundamentaly misleading term. I avoid it and disparage it when ever I can.

IMO it neither promotes seed saving, nor food independence.

[Zinniagirl]

I prefer the term open pollinated. I think of heirloom as a marketing ploy.

[OneoftheEarls]

I imbrace "heirloom" when it is synonymous with "heritage", meaning that it has an established history of cultural, traditional or documented journey

vegetables, fruits, chickens....

I do have an age number in MY head but that should not always be a determiner, that's kind of like defining "antique" and "vintage". And I am NOT naming names.....LL

Earl

[Darth Slater]

I would favor opting for Heirloom crosses as opposed to the name OP, that way it is more definitive. The term OP is rather vague becuase there are some Hybrid OP's.
And I think Heirloom should be just that, Heirloom {50 years or more}.

[MVNewf]

QUOTE Darth Slater
And I think Heirloom should be just that, Heirloom {50 years or more}.


Then darl'in YOUR an Heirloom
ooppps, and so am I

[blueribbontomatoes]

I don't think heirlooms need a minimum age to be considered that. An heirloom anything is something handed down in a family. So there are family heirlooms, and anything else isn't really an heirloom at all.