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An heirloom is something old that you
inherited. Your ancestors passed this object down to you, their
heir. So any plant variety or strain that has been passed down hand to
hand through the generations could be called an heirloom variety, even if there
is something identical available commercially. With seed grown plants like
vegetables, there tends to be some genetic drift that can make an
heirloom "Kentucky Wonder" bean different from those being sold
today. As modern institutions sell new varieties under old names, the
heirloom need only stay the same to depart from current standards. Take
for example the 400 bud mutations of Red So-called Delicious apples. If
you had one of the heirloom strains from it's beginning, it would
be worth having. Donna
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