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["Robert Walton" <waltonrp AT gmail.com>]

> I have read that hybrids don't reproduce "true", and therefore we should 
> look for non-hybrid heirloom seeds.   Has anyone found this true about the 
> hybrids, to the point where it matters?

I know people that will tell you otherwise, but you don't want to
plant seeds saved from hybrid varieties. They don't grow true. In an
emergency, you could select seeds from the best of the offspring and
in a few generations, you'd be back to an open pollinated type with
simple first generation hybrids.

>
>
> I've ordered some heirloom seeds, but would love a link to someplace that 
> has more heirlooms than hybrids.
>

There are tons of places to by heirlooms. Here is the one I like:
http://www.southernexposure.com/index.html

The main thing I like about them is that they are close to me and that
matters. Lot's of heirloom varieties have developed a liking for the
local conditions. If a bean was grown in a certain climate and soil
for generations, it will do best in that climate/soil. I'd look for
varieties that were grown in the southwest. Also once you grow out a
variety and select seeds off the best plants that you grow for a few
years, you'll start to customize that variety to your area.

The other thing you'll want to learn about with open pollinated
varieties is cross pollination. If you grow two varieties of something
that crosses, your seeds will not grow plants that same as the parents
the next year.

Rob- Va