Leopold Center - Celebrating Iowa’s horticultural heritage

On their way to the butter cow and the giant pumpkin, visitors to the Iowa State Fair each August stroll past tables overflowing with colorful, prize-winning fruits and vegetables, a bountiful display of the state's best produce.

Heirloom fruits and vegetables – plants and seeds that have been handed down from year to year in families and communities – had a renewed presence among the exhibits in 2005, thanks to a Leopold-Center supported project.

New competition classes for heirlooms were offered in the horticulture and food divisions at the 2005 Iowa State Fair. A display on the main floor of Agriculture Hall helped tens of thousands of fairgoers learn about the beauty, flavor and genetic diversity that heirlooms bring to Iowa’s gardens and markets.

Until the mid-1900s, Iowa was a significant producer of apples, potatoes, sweet potatoes, grapes, and other horticultural crops. Muscatine melons, Hawkeye Delicious apples, and Des Moines Market squash (now known as Acorn) were sought after nationwide.

By the end of the century, farm production in Iowa was concentrated in a handful of crops such as corn, soybeans and alfalfa. Today, local produce and heirloom varieties are gaining in popularity again as chefs, gardeners and consumers learn to appreciate the tastes, shapes and colors as well as the freshness of Iowa produce. The heirloom varieties also could hold a key to future disease resistance, climate adaptations and other qualities.

One of the challenges in restoring diversity to Iowa’s agricultural base is finding creative ways to teach consumers about the unique foods that can be raised here. In Iowa and many agricultural states, ideas about foods traditionally spring from state fair competitions such as “Best Tomato,” “Biggest Squash” and “Blue Ribbon Apple Pie.” Fair contests reach a large audience and are a wonderful, accessible and fun opportunity to showcase and celebrate heritage and local foods.

The 2005 heirloom competition drew prize-winning entries from some first-time entrants who were attracted by the new categories, and gave other long-time contestants a chance to showcase their unusual varieties. Roger Swanson of Monona won a blue ribbon in the apple category with Fameuse ‘Snow’ apple, an old variety. Swanson, a retired school administrator, has been raising apples since 1974. Faeth Orchards of Ft. Madison, a fifth-generation family-owned orchard operated by Lynn Faeth and his brother, won second place with a unique apple developed from a seedling in their own orchard and named Leeliscious.

The heirloom vegetable plate category was won by Ginger Werner of Chelsea, featuring Hot Portugal pepper, Ailsa Craig Onion, Bogatyr Garlic, and Amish Paste Tomato. Second place went to Sondra Feldstein, a long-time heirloom enthusiast from Bondurant, who grew Cherokee Trail of Tears beans, Klari Baby Cheese pepper, Cherokee Purple tomato, and Listada de Gandia Eggplant. Third place told a true family story: Robert C. Russell II of Des Moines entered the Mortgage Lifter Tomato, Goldy Pepper, Living Green zucchini, and a variety of garlic that has been grown by the Russell family since the 1930s.

In the Food division, judged by food folklorist Riki Salzman, a rhubarb jam made from a family recipe won a blue ribbon in the fruit preserves category for Ilene Wallace of Council Bluffs. A delicate pink rhubarb jelly from Louise Piper of Garner took second place. Ilene Wallace’s spiced tomato jam was the winner in the vegetable preserves category.

Contestants, fair officials and visitors crowding the displays all testify that interest in heirlooms is on the rise. And the beauty and variety of the entries is a sure indication that in a showcase of Iowa’s best, heirloom produce belongs on the blue ribbon table.

The State Fair heirloom competition was sponsored by the Leopold Center, Seed Savers Exchange, Practical Farmers of Iowa and the Alces Foundation, with additional prizes provided by University of Iowa Press.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Susan Futrell is a writer and consultant from Iowa City who specializes in marketing of local and organic foods. In addition to coordinating the state fair heirloom project for the Leopold Center, she has researched the Burlington apple and studied the potential for Iowa's Muscatine melons as a place-based food.