Romanians are rightly proud of the savory taste of their locally-grown fruits, nuts, seeds, and vegetables. But few know that this important piece of Romanian heritage is being preserved by just one small institution.

My translation:

The delicious terroire of heritage tomatoes, which were grown 50-60 years ago in Romanian fields, are preserved with special care in a little corner of [Romanian] Moldova. The Vegetable Gene Bank of Suceava is the only institution of its kind in the country which is working to preserve Romanian heritage vegetables. The institution sells small quantities of seeds to anyone who is interested in obtaining heritage plants from yesteryear.

Absolutely amazing and wonderful! Apparently their top three heritage seeds are the “ox heart” variety of tomatoes, a red (bell) pepper and a kind of bean.

If you’re interested in growing your own heritage Romanian foods from seeds, here is their bilingual (English and Romanian) website.