In the middle of a long, cold, snowy winter (and I assume everyone agrees we just had a pretty long, cold, snowy winter), I long for summer tastes, such as the taste of fresh corn on the cob; local strawberries over homemade shortcake, poundcake or angel food cake; ripe summer peaches eaten fresh, in cobbler or in pie; and most definitely, a fresh tomato with that "old-fashioned" real tomato taste.

We can preserve corn, and we can freeze berries, and we are able to preserve peaches. In fact, a jar of home-canned peaches, opened in January, is like opening up a jar of sunlight.

Of course, we can now purchase these fruits and vegetables fresh year-round if we are willing to spend the money, and some taste pretty good. However, to me, I haven't found anything in winter to compare with a tomato from a backyard garden.

It is great that more people are planting gardens this year. And each year we have people who are growing vegetables at home for the first time, and that is exciting.

If you haven't raised vegetables at home before, you are in for some real treats — after some work, of course. And if you have a vegetable garden every year, you know it is an important ritual of spring and summer, as well as being fun and rewarding on many levels — again, after some work, of course.

However, if you aren't an experienced gardener or haven't moved out of your comfort zone into new varieties, let's talk about heirlooms.

Why are we discussing heirloom vegetables now? Don't "real gardeners" have their gardens already planted?

Yes, a lot of people do have their gardens planted. We have been harvesting lettuce and spinach for a couple of weeks. They won't last much longer. And the peas are coming along nicely.

Green beans are going in this weekend. And so are the tomato plants. But the last frost date for southern Butler County can be as late as May 15, and we had a frost or two not long ago.

While you can hurry some plantings and shelter fragile plants from cold, planting fragile plants around Memorial Day is a safe practice. So if you are ahead of the curve, congratulations! But there is still time to plant.

That brings us to the first question, which is, why grow heirlooms?

From my perspective, the first reason is taste. The second reason is to preserve varieties. And the third reason is tradition.

There are several definitions for an heirloom vegetable. One definition is the variety was known before 1945-50, when the first hybrids were introduced.

Another definition is heirlooms are open-pollinated, meaning if you plant the seeds of an heirloom, the plants will be "true to type," and if you plant the seeds from that plant, that generation of plants also is "true to type."

Of course, some varieties are much older than 50 to 60 years od. Some varieties have been known for centuries.

Now, back to the question, why grow heirlooms?

Let's start with the third reason, which is tradition. These are varieties many of your parents and grandparents knew as children. Remember, anyone gardening before the end of World War II did not have today's hybrids to choose for their gardens.

Yes, you could buy these heirloom seeds, but many people saved seeds from year to year. Sometimes this happened within families.

There are varieties that have been thought to be extinct, and then we find varieties still being grown by a few families, and through careful propagation and seed-saving they become available again.

So some of us grow certain varieties because we know that the grandparents we loved — and their parents before them — grew these vegetables.

Why worry about preserving varieties?

Part of the reason is the tradition. But part of the reason is because we need genetic diversity.

There is a very strong school of thought today in science that genetic diversity is critical to adaptation.

And others believe genetic diversity promotes reproduction of the species, keeps plants strong, and helps combat the various pests and other threats that come along. Pests and diseases are able to adapt, and genetic diversity gives us the "tools" to fight back.

However, another strong reason for preserving varieties is the same reason we preserve buildings and landmarks. It gives us a sense of not only who we are, but where we have come from. And another reason is history and culture.

What do I mean by that? The names of these varieties are colorful, and fun.

Heirloom corn varieties include such colorful names as Golden Bantam or Country Gentleman. Pole beans have names such as Kentucky Wonder or Rattlesnake. Some famous beans for drying include Jacob's Cattle or Anasazi.

Tomatoes have not only an incredible diversity of types, but really great names: Arkansas Traveler, Amish Paste, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Cherokee Purple, Granny Smith, Hillbilly, Old German, Yellow Pear and Mortgage Lifter.

The last tomato is a tomato reportedly developed by Mr. M.C. "Radiator Charlie" Byles, who developed this tomato in the 1940s by crossing different varieties.

Mr. Byles needed to find some way to save his house, because his radiator business during the Great Depression wasn't paying the bills. The tomato grew so well and tasted so good he sold the plants and was able to pay off his home mortgage in six years!

He sold the plants for $1 each, which was an unbelievable price at that time.

Why would people pay that incredible price for one tomato plant? Well, remember open pollination and saving seeds? If you knew how to save seeds, one plant bought you the same delicious tomatoes year after year.

Now let's talk about taste.

Heirloom varieties really taste good! Why? Well, they were developed to eat!

What I mean by that is they weren't developed to ship or be transported any distance. While we are all appreciative of durability in some of our vegetables and fruits, which can tolerate being shipped long distances and are still marketable, many would argue this trait of durability comes at the expense of taste and flavor.

You might be thinking, OK, I am interested, so which ones should I grow?

Well, choice of the best plant varieties, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

Of course, be sure the plants are suitable for this region. There are a lot of sources from local nurseries and garden stores, ordering plants online, ordering seeds and starting your own (earlier in the year) and so on.

I grow some varieties because I know how they will produce every year. I might have chosen the varieties in the past because I liked the description or name, but I grow them now because of the reliability and taste.

With tomatoes, I always grow a "black" variety because of taste and color. I grow bicolor tomatoes for the same reason. I grow one "green" fleshed variety, and at least one small pear or mini tomato.

I grow bush green beans, but also at least one heirloom pole bean because I like the taste and because Grandma and Grandpa did.

Peas, lima beans, yellow beans and peppers are in or going in, and most of them are heirlooms.

So consider giving heirloom vegetables a try. First and foremost, I think you will be pleased with the taste.

Second, you are maintaining a tradition and following in the footsteps of earlier gardeners, planting some of the very same varieties they planted.

And third, maybe you are starting your own family tradition, and someday someone in your family will plant certain varieties just because you did.

Lance Shaeffer is a Penn State Master Gardener and beekeeper in Butler County