--Today's Tomato of the day is: Cherokee Purple. 
We do NOT use any synthetic chemical fertilizers. We do NOT use any synthetic chemical pesticides.
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co., our seed supplier for Cherokee Purple, provides this description: "An old Cherokee Indian heirloom, pre-1890 variety; beautiful, deep, dusky purple-pink color, superb sweet flavor, and very-large-sized fruit. Try this one for real old-time tomato flavor. Our favorite dark tomato and one of our best selling varieties."

I have been growing Cherokee Purple for 4 years now--for good reason--and it's a sure bet that I will continue to grow it for as long as I am able to farm. Cherokee Purple is on my top 5 list of best tasting tomatoes. While I could have let this particular tomato ripen a day or two more for deeper colors and increased flavor, I actually just ate this one for breakfast (tomato, egg & cheese on homemade bun) and it was off the charts SO DELICIOUS.

If you love growing great tomatoes, I hope you'll consider growing Cherokee Purple next year.

SowThankful Farm is a very small NM heirloom & specialty micro-nursery and market garden-micro farm located in Edgewood, NM, USA. My primary focus is heirloom & specialty tomatoes as well as some other specialty veggies & flowers. 
As always:

• We DO NOT use any synthetic chemical fertilizers.
• We DO NOT use any synthetic chemical pesticides.
• We believe HEALTHY SOIL is the key to growing the healthiest & most nutritious produce.

We're rooting for your success in growing your own food, flowers & fun.

  This was our first year growing Blue Beauty and she produced loads of gorgeous, delicious tomatoes for us. As a huge fan of Black Beauty tomato, I had my doubts that I would love Blue Beauty as much; but I do. All my expectations were exceeded with this variety.

Blue Beauty was bred by Bradley Gates/Wild Boar Farms. They describe Blue Beauty as: "4-8 oz. fruit, Selection from a cross with Beauty King and a blue tomato. Great production. Medium Large fruit, Meaty Pink beefsteak with a lovely dark blue Anthocyanin top. Good hang on the vine ability, sunburn and crack resistant. Very good flavor."

My experience growing Blue Beauty confirms the Wild Boar Farms description 100%+. We actually had several Blue Beauties that exceeded 8 ounces.  This tomato is simply stunning and as the saying goes, "we eat with our eyes" before we ever taste with our mouths. My eyes and my mouth/taste buds were over the moon about Blue Beauty. We will definitely grow this variety again next year. While I am saving seeds for next year, I will NOT be selling tomato seeds for probably at least a couple years. I want to focus on selecting the best seeds each year to develop a strain that best suits our East Mountains climate and conditions.

As always:

• We DO NOT use any synthetic chemical fertilizers.
  
• We DO NOT use any synthetic chemical pesticides.
• We believe HEALTHY SOIL is the key to growing the healthiest & most nutritious produce.
  

I started growing Tasmanian Chocolate Dwarf Tomato last year (2023). This variety is associated with the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI) and was one of the first introductions made from the "Dwarf Tomato Project." If you're interested in nerdy tomato things, some day when you have a couple minutes do an internet search for "Dwarf Tomato Project" and you'll be amazed by what you learn.

'Tasmanian Chocolate' originated from a cross between 'New Big Dwarf' (an historic large fruited pink dwarf plant) and the indeterminate full size heirloom 'Paul Robeson' tomato, which is one of our favorites, of course.

The Tasmanian Chocolate tomato plant is perfect for a large pot or garden. The plant features rugose foliage, stout central stems and typically grows to 3 to 4 feet in height; ALTHOUGH, in our high tunnel we have had more than one Tasmanian Chocolate plant exceed 6 feet in height. They are prolific producers, as shown above. The fruits are oblate and range from 5 to 12+ ounces with fruits ripening to a deep mahogany color.

The flavor is full, balanced and delicious. I use them on sandwiches as well as in making salsas and sauces. My favorite way to eat this tomato is by making an open face tomato sandwich on homemade sourdough bread that has been toasted. I take a thick slice then top with sharp cheese and place under the broiler just until the cheese gets melty. The exquisite taste of summer.

While I thought that I would save & sell seeds for this and other favorite tomato varieties for next year's growing season, I have since reconsidered. I will DEFINITELY still save the seed. But I want to spend at least a couple years refining the selection process in hopes of producing the best seeds that have the best chance of success for growing in our local, East Mountains conditions. At this time I do expect to offer a LIMITED number of plant starts for Tas (and several other varieties) next year (2025).  In the meantime, if you want to buy seeds for Tasmanian Chocolate to start your own from seed, I recommend you look up J&L Gardens (they are located Espanola, NM). They are my original seed source for Tasmanian Chocolate and several other tomato & pepper varieties.
 

Sometimes the light hits a flower just right and all you can do is stop and drink in her exquisite, intensely shimmering, vibrant beauty. She almost seemed to be on fire. It was all about the way the light was illuminating her. THIS was her big moment and she gloried in it. No filters or adjustments except cropping of this picture which was taken Thursday evening 9-19-24 just before sunset. 

As I was doing evening chores I walked past one of our many Tithonia rotundifolia (Mexican Red Torch Sunflower) plants that are exploding in blooms right now. My attention was immediately drawn to this particular bloom.  I simply had to stop and take her picture. Beauty such as this is ever so fleeting but it definitely should be shared.

It's not the first time I've made sauce this year, but today is the first day I've made a full roaster batch.

Last year I was able to freeze enough sauce and dehydrate enough slices & crumbles to last us for the entire year. I'm hopeful we will have at least that much again this year.

When I make sauce, I use EVERY kind of tomato: Pastes, Cherries, Grapes, Plums, Saladettes, and Slicers in every shape and color. In the roaster today I have more than 25 different kinds of tomatoes. I have discovered over the years that the more different kinds of tomatoes I use, the BETTER the sauce is. The depth of flavor can't be beat by anything that could be bought in stores.

My heart is still heavy, recovering from the recent attack on my laying hens but I know keeping focused and busy bringing in the harvest and preserving it will help heal my mind and heart. So I am keeping very busy this week and keeping vigilant watch over my remaining girls. 

Pictured is Dwarf Northern Elan Tomato. This is our first year growing this variety and I am extremely impressed so far. In our high tunnel the plants are getting 5 - 6+ feet tall and they are very solid producers. Even though the plant is a dwarf, it is an INDETERMINATE variety that produces very nice size, delicious slicing tomatoes. Northern Elan features a deep reddish brown skin with excellent, rich, balanced flavor. As you can see, it is quite juicy too. We *will* be growing this variety next year.

While I had planned to sell seeds from our tomatoes this year, I have since reconsidered. I want to spend a couple years growing out the seeds I save selecting the best of each generation before I begin selling the seed. While nothing is absolutely guaranteed, that process should help produce seed for plants that have the best potential to be naturally accustomed to our local soil type and weather conditions.

I begin again. It seems an unending quest of finding my place and seeking my purpose. I am going to try to use this blog space to put words to what I see and experience here on our tiny micro-farm.  Please feel free to share your constructive thoughts and comments below below. Keep in mind I must approve all comments in order to protect this space from trash, ad spewers and spammers.
Today I want to take just a quick moment to connect with you on a personal level. I think personal connection is sorely missing in the world and I need to start being the change I want to see instead of simply complaining or being eternally frustrated. In my experience, we used to listen to each other more and even if we disagreed on hot topics, there was basic human respect, kindness and dignity. That seems so rare these days. So here I am making myself vulnerable--but please do not mistake my willingness to be vulnerable for weakness. Today, I begin again. In peace.

I know many of us are suffering on so many levels and I think it might be good to simply sit and take a few deep breaths together. Honestly, I am struggling too. This week I suffered substantial losses when a neighbor's dogs broke through two of our fences and got into our barn-coop brutally decimating most of my laying hens that I raised from tiny peeps over the last 5 years. It was a horrible, horrific scene that we discovered and the dogs were still inside our barn and in progress of the ongoing attack when we discovered it. No the dogs weren't hungry. They were sporting, torturing my girls to death--and it is killing me to know the terror my sweet girls endured as they drew their final breaths. I SAW THIS. I am traumatized beyond words and grieving so deeply. My hens were more like pets/family than poultry/livestock. I cooked for them almost every day. I caught bugs for them. I talked to them. They talked to me. You get the picture. It was so peaceful and healing for me to spend time with them.

I had a very special relationship with one hen in particular and she was helping me greatly in dealing with some old, unresolved traumas from early childhood and young adulthood. She was always at my feet, sweetly cooing, taking treats from my hand and looking up at me. I know some people think this is all very woo-woo but I don't care what they think. My hens were more genuine, loving and real family to me than some members of my actual family and YES I really mean that. My girls weren't "things" and they CAN NOT JUST BE REPLACED. So. This was a really big loss for me. It really put me in a dark place for a few days and I confess it would be so easy to get sucked into a vengeful rage; but that is not who I am and it's not who I ever want to be. I'm not saying I'm over what happened or that I'm completely healed. I believe that will be a lifelong process. BUT. Very early this morning as I looked through the pictures I had snapped in my garden yesterday these thoughts came to mind:

The sting of grief is softened ever so slightly by the Earth's reminders that we are all connected to each other through her. We all came from her. We will all return to her and the harvest has a place in the cycle of life.

We transition through many stages in this life just as the caterpillar turns into the butterfly. And so it will be to the next life.

Some of the stages we go through in this life are absolutely ugly, heart-breaking and excruciatingly painful but without them we can not reach our truest, highest form.

That doesn't mean I condone what happened or that I won't protect my remaining (or future) hens, goats, property and myself in the future; but I release the rage and I reject any creeping desire for revenge.

Revisiting my Quaker roots (my grandparents and their ancestors were Quaker) with a profoundly heart-felt understanding that true peace will never be found while pursuing violence or when engaged in angry, vengeful thought processes.

Further, those who pursue violence as a primary means of existence will never attain true peace. Each individual must choose. As for me, I choose love. I choose peace. I will grow. I will transform and continue to shine the light within me as long as I draw breath.

Whatever your current struggles are, I hope you will join me and continue to shine the goodness of your light brightly on our journey through this life.

These are my mid-September musings from my garden. I send wishes of love and peace followed by gentle hugs, smiles & cheers of encouragement. Keep shining. You are needed in this life.

This is my favorite time of the year. Lovely cool mornings, lots of veggies ready to harvest and thoughts of roasting green chile. Here are some of the pics I snapped from my walk about. I hope they make you smile. Growing anything in the NM high desert is definitely next level challenging, but it absolutely can be done. AND it can be done without synthetic chemicals pesticides or fertilizers (we don't use that stuff because it's POISON for everything). Healthy soil, mulching, companion planting, drip irrigation (not overhead which often evaporates before it hits the ground) and other practices learned over time make a difference. YOU can definitely do this.
Click images below to read their captions and see a larger image.