I can remember my Dad having bragging contests with his gardening buddies about who would have ripe tomatoes before the 4th of July. At Tuggle Farms, it is a joint effort. My brother Dwayne, my cousin Thad and I each have a hand in the physical side of things. Mom was involved with the Farm Supply business for many years at Bill's Feed and Seed; she keeps us on track with planning and processing help. Dad is still involved as farmer emeritus and is a wealth of important information about how, when, where, what to do and what not to do.
This year we've been joined by Thad, who has done a great job attending to the details of production in the vegetable garden. I give Thad most of the credit for the tomato you see here. Sliced on July 4th.
It is an heirloom variety called Black Prince. It comes from the siberian region of Russia and is supposed to be cold hardy. It's more a chocolate color than red or black. We got the seeds because we've long loved Cherokee Purple tomatoes and wanted to try some more of the darker varieties. It also meets the approval of the taste testers!!
