Everything’s coming up heirlooms at Dodge House

The Historic General Dodge House will hold its third annual Heirloom Plant Sale Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon at the museum at 605 Third St.

A variety of heirloom plants and seeds will be available for purchase, including annual flowers and vegetables such as Tall Telephone Peas, Easter Egg Radishes, Dancing Gourds and Mortgage Lifter Tomatoes.

The tomato reportedly gets its name from a gentleman named Radiator Charlie, who developed the variety from crossing German Johnson, Beefsteak and other popular tomatoes. He was then able to sell enough of the special fruit to pay off his mortgage during the Great Depression.

Limited quantities of plants will be available, so those interested are advised to come early.

Preserving heirloom seeds and plants gives people a sense of history and cultural heritage. By growing heirloom plants and saving the seeds, everyone can participate in saving many varieties from extinction and preserving plants with special genetic traits and histories.

In becoming a seed saver of heirlooms, area residents can pass on the rich history with which many plants are endowed. Thousands of varieties of unique vegetables and fruits have been lost to us. In the early 1990s, nearly 7,000 varieties of apples existed in this country alone. Now there are less than 1,000. Unfortunately, a similar pattern exists for vegetable and flower varieties.

Sponsors for the event are Diller Greenhouse and Struyk Turf.