I'm a historical re-enactor, and one thing we get to have a bit of fun with is fruit & veg. Aside from sneaking totally inauthentic fruits into displays to see if people notice ("why that coconut floated across the atlantic" etc), we do have a few members who belong to a heritage seed club. One of my friends brought along some Victorian breed of plum (mottled yellow/purple), which I can honestly say was better than any other I've had.
"One of my friends brought along some Victorian breed of plum (mottled yellow/purple), which I can honestly say was better than any other I've had."
Speaking just for myself as very much not a gardening person, that is why I personally am interested in "heritage" plants. Heavy-duty commercial breeding over the past ~50 years has generally disregarded taste as a driving factor in selection, or at least given it a lower priority. Personally, I don't even disagree. There is something to be said for a reliable food supply. (If you don't know what that thing to be said is, try not having one.) But if you're going to grow it yourself, why not shoot a little higher?
Both my grandparent's place and the place I moved into a few years ago have some apple trees that I can't identify what they are, except to say they are certainly not what you'd find in a grocery store. (My grandparents claim their trees are "Anoka", which I can barely find references to on the internet, and I have no idea how to identify what's in my backyard, except that it's definitely not the same.) In both cases, the applesauce these trees produce is like nothing you can buy in the store. It's not even close. And I don't mean, "Oh, it's a little bit better but I'm going to use hypobole", I mean, it's barely recognizable as being covered by the same noun. Store-bought applesauce is something you drink, this is something you eat. Also makes good baby food (for extra bonus hippie points).
The natural environment of the re-enactor is the pub; you just have to know which one to loiter in ;)
Actually I got started by looking for local groups near me. There are three main types of groups; battle re-enactors, living history, and the SCA.
Battle re-enactors are generally larger groups like the Sealed Knot or The Vikings, who field quite large battles and maintain a pretty high level of authenticity.
Living History is more about showing how people lived and explaining it to the public. This is generally what I do (though we also do fighting). There's a high level of authenticity and most people hand-make their clothing.
The SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) is an American thing which is quite popular. Not authentic and somewhat closer to LARPing; it can, however, have some really dedicated authenticity nuts in it. Fun if you're looking for something less accurate.
In all honesty if you're curious; just go along to any local re-enactments (<shamelessplug>if you're in the UK then you might turn up a few on my current project: http://daysoutnearme.com</shamelessplug>) or search around on Google for some local groups. Their sites will be universally awful, but you can normally get through via email.
It's great fun and a really good way to see various castles and manors without having to pay :)
Living History sounds cool. I'm a big fan of all the different UK series such as Tales from the Green Valley (1), Victorian Farm, Victorian Pharmacy, Edwardian Farm, etc. I've seen them all, some several times.
If you love that sorta thing then you may enjoy being a barber-surgeon/doctor in a living history group. It involves a bit of expense in acquiring all the tools and knowledge, but you'll be by far the most popular person with the public.
One of my friends does it in our group; he constantly has a crowd of 5-10 people gathered around his stall listening to the gory details. Everyone's interested in the weapons and fighting, but they're -really- interested in seeing how a trepanning tool works.
Glad to see them making a comeback!