answer:Heirloom seeds, I believe, are ‘ancient’ seeds that have been historically planted as opposed to the seeds you buy today. It’s one way of creating and preserving genetic diversity. Here’s a ‘sort of’ example: Indians used to grow some 20 different potatoes (number might be way off) but since the advent of McDonalds really only one is grown. Likewise, you may have seen the colour wheel of carrots. The different colours all come from different seeds,