Tag Archives: purple tomatoes

Over 30 Different Tomato Varieties Now at the Franklin Farmers Market

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Beaverdam Creek Tomatoes

How many tomatoes do you think we had at the Franklin Farmers Market this past Saturday? We’re not sure either, but we could say it was an invasion, because there were tomatoes everywhere.  Our Tennessee Farmers bring over 30 different varieties from red and yellow tomatoes, striped and purple tomatoes, big and small cherry tomatoes, including heirloom tomatoes and traditional favorites.  Perfect for canning and making relish or just a good old BLT. We love this time of the year, because it’s not just the number of tomatoes that is so high, but all of the other summertime favorites of the garden are ripe and ready to eat.

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Bloomsbury Farm Wheat Grass

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Farm Fresh picked Peaches and Cream Corn

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Farm Fresh Produce and Herbs from Rocky Glade Farm

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AssortedTie Dyed Clothing from Pieceful World Clothing

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Artisan Woods by Cody

Bags of purple hull peas and green beans were being snapped up at the market, along with okra and bell peppers. Those sweet juicy peaches from Kirkview Farm were also a big hit.

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Sweet Peaches and Apples from Rainbow Hill Farm

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Kirkview Farms Purple Hull Peas and Melons

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Ice Cold Limeade and teas from Lucy’s Kitchen

It was a little hot on Saturday… Okay, it was just flat out hot and muggy. But it didn’t matter. Folks were drinking ice cold, fresh limeade from Lucy’s Kitchen or dipping spoons into sweet delicious gelato from Hatcher’s Dairy to stay cool. And you know what one of the best things is about coming to the market? Even though you know what’s ripe and ready to eat, there’s always something new to enjoy too. Like Delvin Farm’s organic hot & spicy tomato juice. Great for cooking and drinking! Or like Rainbow Hill Farm’s Concord grapes.

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Organic Bloody Mary Mix from Delvin Farms organic tomatoes

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Concord Grapes from Rainbow Hill Farm

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Beautiful Watermelons from Bronnenberg Farm

Circle August 24th on your calendars, because that’s a big, sweet seed-spittin’ fun day at the farmers market. It’s the Franklin Farmers Market Watermelon Festival, presented by our friends at the Williamson Herald and Southern Exposure Magazine.  You don’t want to miss the watermelon seed spitting or the fastest watermelon eating contests. There are games and face painting for the kids, wild watermelon carvings and plenty of ice cold watermelons to enjoy.

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Cecil’s Tomatoes from Pocahontas Creek Farms

And finally, you know the old saying about the early bird getting the worm? That’s been the thought about the market too. Get there early to make sure you get the best of the farm fresh produce you want before it runs out. But trying to scope out the fresh picked veggies early at the market could be dangerous. Our Tennessee farmers and vendors start setting up their farm booths early, but there are so many farmers at the market that they all can’t get moved in at the same time. And if they are trying to unload their trucks and set things up, it’s not safe for you to walk around the market.

So we’re asking you to please wait until the market opens to start shopping. The Franklin Farmers Market opens at 8am. When you hear the bell ringing, come on in!

Don’t forget to visit our pictures from Saturday.

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Canned Cucumbers from Norton Family Farm

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Tomato Season is in Full Swing!

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FFM Manager Deb with  Lex and Tim from Colbert Farm

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These Farm Fresh Tomatoes are hand picked fresh, from the farm, by our Tennessee Farmers and their families as these tomatoes are from Zadok the Natural Farmer

TomatoFest Visitors Enjoy Tomatoes, Food, Contests and Tomato Seed Saving

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The Totally Terrific Tomat-Oh voting table had lots of activity to select this years winners

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I now have new favorites!

And the word for the day was Tomato, with a capital T.  There were tomatoes everywhere you looked –  red tomatoes and yellow ones; striped and purple tomatoes; big and small, heirlooms and traditional favorites. It was all part of TomatoFest at the Franklin Farmers Market this past Saturday.

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So many different Tomato varieties for tasting

Not only did the farms have oodles of delicious tomatoes to pick from, but there were also lots of tomato samples to try along with scrumptious bites of Italian tomato-based dishes from Amerigo.

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Nothing better than Fresh made Salsa from Amerigo

Amerigo-Logo-newsletter

Plus there was the special TomatoFest salsa, made with fresh tomatoes straight from the Allenbrooke Farm. It was truly a tomato-lover’s heaven at the market.

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Amerigo Chefs Paul and Steven

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Allenbrooke Farm Tomatoes

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Preparation of Tomato Jam

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Tomato Samples anyone?

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Sharon & Jenny presenting over 15 different Tomato varieties to sample

Besides all of the great tomatoes, everyone got the chance to learn how to save tomato and other vegetable seeds. Saving seeds is important as it allows us to preserve heirloom seeds’ genetic diversity.

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So much interest in Tomato Seed Saving

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Farmer Zadok Johnson explaining the art of Seed Saving

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Seeds are the beginning of our existence, our nourishment and how we grow our vegetables

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The Johnson Family answering questions about the tomato and its seeds

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Beaverdam Creek Farm wins 1st Place

But maybe the best thing about TomatoFest was the Totally Terrific Tomat-Oh! Contest between the farmers at the market. There was certainly a lot beautiful heirloom varieties entered in the contest, but the best were the ones that showed just how creative our farmers can be. The overall grand prize winner came from Beaverdam Creek Farm. It featured a “pineapple” heirloom tomato with a parrot fashioned out of a real pineapple! Kirkview Farms nailed down second place with a couple of tomatoes enjoying the day on the “beach”… surf’s up, dudes! And third place went to Flying S Farms, with their miniature farm scene, complete with a little harvest bucket filled tiny “spoon” tomatoes!

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Kirkview Farms wins 2nd Place

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Flying S Farm wins 3rd Place

Our thanks to Amerigo Italian Restaurant for sponsoring TomatoFest and to everyone who came out for a fun and tasty day at the Franklin Farmers Market.  Tomatoes rule!

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Professor Tomato

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RV Tomato Protection

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1st Place winner Beaverdam Creek Farm

View pictures of the entire TomatoFest day here