Old Sturbridge Village will be giving away free heirloom tomato plants between 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Vouchers for the tomato plants will be distributed, free with Museum admission, at the Visitor Center (while supplies last, limit one per family) and the plants will be available for pick up between 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Additional activities include cooking with tomato catsup in the Freeman kitchen and tomato-growing in the Herb Garden.

Varieties that will be given away were popular plants of the 1830s: Brandywine and Large Red heirloom tomatoes. Additional tomato plants will be available for sale as well as other heirloom plants including herbs and flowering annuals and perennials.

Heirloom gardening is one of the important ways that Old Sturbridge Village preserves the past. All of the plants grown in the Village fields and gardens are consistent with those grown locally in the 1830s. The advent of industrial agriculture dramatically reduced the number of varieties of fruits and vegetables available now in grocery stores. Today's varieties represent only a small portion of the fruits and vegetables 19th-century families could choose from. Old Sturbridge Village preserves these varieties by growing them in Village gardens, by selling seeds and plants, and by offering free tomato plants annually to visitors.