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Heirloom plant
An heirloom plant is an open-pollinated cultivar that was commonly grown during earlier periods in human history, but which is not used in modern large-scale agriculture. Since most popular heirloom plants are vegetables, the term heirloom vegetable is often used instead. Before the industrialization of agriculture, a much wider variety of plant foods was grown for human consumption. In modern agriculture in the Industrialized World, most food crops are now grown in large, monocultural plots owned by corporations. In order to maximize consistency, few varieties of each type of crop are grown. These varieties are often selected for their productivity, their ability to withstand the long trips to supermarkets, or their tolerance to drought, frost, or pesticides. Nutrition, flavor, and variety are frequently secondary and tertiary concerns, if at all a concern. Heirloom gardening can be seen as a reaction against this trend.
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Plants & Animals News
May 9, 2026
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Latest Headlines
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May 9, 2026 Scientists may have found a smarter, safer way to wipe out termites hiding inside homes. A chemical called bistrifluron prevents drywood termites from forming new exoskeletons during molting, killing ...
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May 7, 2026 A routine experiment with a new single-cell DNA sequencing method turned into a surprising scientific twist when researchers stumbled upon a bizarre genetic code in a microscopic pond organism. ...
May 6, 2026 A forgotten fossil hidden inside a garden wall has turned out to be one of Australia’s most remarkable prehistoric discoveries. Scientists have now ...
May 5, 2026 Oak trees have a surprising trick to fight back against hungry caterpillars: they simply wait. When trees are heavily attacked one year, they delay leaf growth by just three days the next ...
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