Having spent decades cultivating gourmet tomatoes, Robert Redd developed a nuanced understanding of a variety of breeding methods, and the advantages and drawbacks of each. In most cases he favored open pollination, for the purposes of growing non-hybridized, heirloom tomatoes—a cultivar of tomato with a genetic history extending at least fifty years back, whose traits are consciously preserved by farmers—many of whom pass the seeds of their favorite cultivars down through the generations. Hence the name, "heirloom." In Redd's case, the best heirloom strains had been in the family for years.

Modern, large-scale industrial farmers favor a hybrid pollination method, through which one plant receives pollen from another species to select for specific genetic traits, such as size, color, and disease resistance. However, many smaller-scale farmers, Redd included, have come to appreciate the distinct advantages that the open-pollinated heirloom tomato has over its mass-produced counterpart. MotherEarthNews.com nicely summarizes several of these, which we have paraphrased below.

1. Superior taste

First and foremost, the heirloom tomato simply tastes better. Before the globalization of agriculture required that cultivars be able to survive long-distance shipping, the primary consideration of tomato farmers was the development of a fine, full-bodied flavor. Redd always bred his tomatoes to be tasty and tender, not tough. Which would you rather sink your teeth into?

2. Higher nutritional value

Recent research has shown that in their efforts to produce higher yields, many commercial growers have inadvertently reduced the nutritional quality of their tomato strains. For Redd, who believed that the body was a temple and lived a long life to show for it, this was out of the question. He carefully bred and preserved the healthiest cultivars possible, and wouldn't think of serving up anything less.

3. Consistency of strain over time

When it came to breeding tomatoes, Robert Redd was a pragmatist. He learned by doing, through careful trial and error, thus finding out in retrospect what worked—in other words, which methods and strains produced the most succulent flavors and satisfying textures. Whereas seeds produced from hybrid tomato strains are notorious for their inconsistent (if not downright poor) results, heirloom tomato seeds are renowned for staying true to type, season after season, throughout generations. Redd, who preferred to take a long view of history, wouldn't have had it any other way.

4. Less uniform ripening

While commercial growers count on hybrid tomato strains ripening all at the same time, small-scale farmers and home gardeners often benefit from the more staggered growth rate of their heirloom tomato crops, which produce a gradual supply of fresh tomatoes. Redd firmly believed in delayed gratification, as a means of maximizing his enjoyment of life's various pleasures, and relished reaping the fruits of his labor over the course an extended harvest.

5. Lower cost

In catalogs and on seed racks, heirloom tomatoes are generally less expensive than hybrid strains. For Redd, who cared about the accessibility of his product just as much as he cared about its quality, the reduced market price was a deciding factor. Redd mostly served the people immediately around him, and wasn't trying to turn a profit, but rather, to extend love.

6. Ancestry

Some of Redd's favorite heirloom cultivars remained in intact lineages extending hundreds of years into the past, originating in places all over the world. A firm believer in the importance of ancestry, Redd felt that the historicity of his cultivars was a key element in his work with them. He insisted that he was not simply growing tomatoes—as delicious though they might be—but preserving a piece of the ancient past.