"The Purple Tomato"
And All Other Purple Vegetables

There has been a lot of talk in the gardening world lately about purple tomatoes. This week, we will unpack the first GMO seeds for the backyard gardener. By the way, so far, the rest of the purple vegetables are fine to buy and plant. They are Non-GMO. Most are heirlooms and are healthy and delicious. They are nothing to be afraid of.

This is one of the purple potatoes I grew. It is an heirloom, not GMO.

Purple Tomatoes - 2/26/24-3/3/24

Monday, February 26, 2024

View of my backyard with lights that come on at night. Here it is foggy.

Good morning! It is foggy and 58°. It feels damp and chilly out there. Time to go open the Farm Store. We have hundreds of online seed orders to fill.

The fog was still around at 9:15am. Around 10am, it started lifting. We worked hard on filling orders and sent the mailman off with two and a half mail bags when he showed up somewhere around 2pm. Before that, we had several customers come for seeds and plants.

Yesterday, I bought eight fruit plants that I needed to plant today, two gooseberry plants, two blueberry plants, two Nanking cherry plants, and two Concord grape plants. I finally got them all transplanted. Matt helped me. Then I watered them all and went back to pulling seeds and filling orders.

I came in the house at 6:30pm to make some dinner. I am so tired and hurting. It was a big day. Two weeks ago, we opened a new bank account at a bank we have never used before. They still have not released the money for us to use. Hopefully, it will be released tomorrow. I finally got enrolled in online banking tonight but it shows $0 because it has not yet been ten business days since we opened the account. I was hoping to order some checks so I can pay bills and use the money we deposited but not yet.

I checked on the potatoes that we cut yesterday to plant. They are coming along fine. The sweet potatoes on my kitchen windowsill are growing roots and vines. They are slow to grow but should be ready soon. It got up to 86° today and is supposed to be 89° tomorrow. I need to put some laundry in the dryer and go do the dishes. The day has been so busy that I just want to fall asleep on the couch now. It is almost 9pm. Good night.

This is the view across the street in the fog from my gazebo in the front.

Purple Tomatoes

Let's talk about The Purple Tomato, the actual name of the first GMO seed designed for the home gardener to buy. Before this, no one could get GMO aka genetically modified organism aka bioengineered seeds without spending thousands of dollars for a special commercial license but that has all changed now.

In June of 2023, the FDA approved of The Purple Tomato created by Norfolk Healthy Produce. They are allowed to sell the seeds to home gardeners. They can also have them grown and sent to the supermarket so you can buy them to eat. Here is the letter from the FDA approving said purple tomato. It is dated June 20, 2023.

Here are some purple snapdragons growing in the Farm Store garden bed right now. This is a part of The Purple Tomato.

They created this purple flesh tomato by adding the genes of a purple snapdragon to a cherry tomato but we do not know what variety it is. They must have done more because in the articles I have read, they say that the tomato won't go mushy after being picked. It will stay firm much longer than a regular tomato.

Update On Purple Tomato Seed Sales - 4/12/2024

I just looked over on the Norfolk website to see how the sale of The Purple Tomato seeds is going. They said that 2024 sales of the GMO seeds has now closed and that they shipped out over 13,000 seed sales here in the USA. So, if you wanted to plant these tomatoes and you did not already order them, you are out of luck for this year.

I have not seen any of these purple tomatoes at my local grocery store but they are only supposed to be in select stores. No, we do not want to grow them. We are already getting enough bioengineered foods in regular packaged food from the grocery store as it is. I just thought they would continue to sell them for as long as possible to make some money. I also learned that they are an indeterminate cherry tomato variety.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Good Tuesday morning. It is a bit foggy this morning, but not like yesterday. It is 66° at 7am. I made a delicious egg casserole for breakfast and now it is time to go fill seed orders. We have hundreds to fill from the weekend. I finally got last Friday's orders filled yesterday. Thank you to everyone who has been ordering. Yesterday, I had to do some planting and it was pay day so I had to do payroll. Today, I should get a lot more pulled and filled, especially with some team members helping me.

It is supposed to be 89° today. It sure was hot yesterday! I saw a video yesterday made by someone I never heard of before. The woman said that we should not be starting any seeds inside but should use her method for planting seeds outside and that we would always get good crops. She is not in Texas.

If we used her method, we would never get tomatoes here in South Central Texas. People who live up north have no clue what the sun does to vegetables once the heat hits. It gets so hot that things stop growing until September. This can happen in May or June. You never know when the awful heat will hit here. In the comments, she was saying her method of direct sowing outdoors would be fine for Texas. No. She has no clue, yet she has many tens of thousands of followers believing her every word. I just don't get it.

As you may know, we booked a trip to Israel for November of 2024 back in the beginning of 2023. Then the war in Israel started. The group we were going with finally made the decision to cancel about two weeks ago so I contacted the travel agency to get our money back. We finally heard from them. It will take almost four months before we get the refund and they will still keep some of the money. In order to get our travel insurance money back, we have to wait until we get the refund statement with our check and then submit that to the insurance company. I had to pay right away, but both companies have had our money for over a year and we have to wait another four to six months to get it back and they will keep fees. We never left the country.

I find this ridiculous. We will not be booking a group trip ever again. Each time we have, the trip is cancelled and then we have to jump through hoops to try and get our money back. I just thought some trips would be fun. How is it that everyone else seems to go on these trips but each time, I get to stay home because the trips are canceled? My passport remains new and unused. What a waste...

The trees and plants have been brought out of my broken greenhouse. Now we can fix the roof broken by hail several weeks ago.

All of my trees and plants were moved out of my greenhouse today because it has been so warm. Also, we need to repair the roof and clean up from the hailstorm three or four weeks ago. There are huge chunks of the clear plastic roof all over in there. It is the only thing on our property that was damaged.

Our citrus trees are budding, ready for flowers at any time. They look so pretty.

Well, the customers just kept coming out today. It was breezy but very warm. Nacho was out here working as well. We hired a new helper today to work 40 hours a week. She will help with orders and stuffing or whatever needs to be done as a beginner. Our two teen helpers were also here today so that was good.

Orders took the entire day and then some. We closed at 5pm. I continued filling orders until 7pm and then came in to make egg sandwiches for dinner.

Another beautiful sunset at David's Garden Seeds Farm.

Purple Tomatoes

Here is an article from May of 2023 where you can read more about this GMO tomato.

So you can buy ten seeds for $20 from Norfolk Healthy Produce to grow for yourself and to consume, but you cannot sell the seeds, the plants, or the fruit. Norfolk Healthy Produce has the patent. They are the only ones who can make money on this GMO tomato.

If you don't want to plant the seeds, your local grocery store will be carrying it for you to buy as produce soon. I cannot recommend this to you because we have no desire to consume GMO products but it sure does look pretty with purple flesh all the way through. Here at David's Garden Seeds®, we have taken the Safe Seed Pledge and will never sell GMOs.

These tomatoes are supposed to be healthier because they are loaded with anthocyanins.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Matt working on some tomato plants in the high tunnel greenhouse.

Good morning. Today was bill paying day. I would like to start by saying that our electric rates went up by a huge amount. The home electric was over $100 more than last month. The business electric went up by $600! That is ridiculous.

It is supposed to be cooler today. The high should be 68° and not 88°. It is currently 66° at 7am. The grass looks so pretty and green but it doesn't stay that way for long here.

Sometime today, we need to start planting potatoes. They should have already been in the ground but there are so many orders.

I just had to run out and unlock the business buildings. David sent Matt on an errand before he ever got here and it is now almost 8am. No one is out there yet. It is cool and very breezy. The air smells fresh and the pond is just covered in leaves from the big oak tree next door. I will have to clean it out today.

The wind has really picked up, blowing hard. My pond is full of oak leaves. I tried cleaning it out but the wind blew the same leaves right back in. We had our first customers of the day shortly after 9am.

The wind blew all day and by evening it was quite chilly. When I went into the house to cook dinner around 6:30pm, it was cold. I made dinner and the wind continued to blow.

Purple Tomatoes

By the way, this tomato is only for Americans. It cannot leave the USA. Most other countries have banned genetically modified organisms, also known as GMOs, also known as bioengineered foods. Why is that? Why is it that the American government is okay with us consuming GMOs which are already in a lot of foods at the grocery store and in your pantry?

Most of the world can see the potential dangers of consuming GMOs but our powers that be want us to consume them. Check your pantry labels for the word "bioengineered" and you will find it on a lot of things. Don't forget the ice cream. Yes, it is there, too, on many brands.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

It's Leap Day! This year with 366 days instead of 365 comes once every four years. Eight years ago on this day, I quit my corporate job out in the work force and started doing David's Garden Seeds full time! It is something I should have done much sooner. It is one of the smartest things I have ever done. I do not for one minute regret doing it. It is one of the happiest days of my life! Happy Anniversary to smarter me for doing it!

20% Flash Sale On Vegetable Seeds

Good morning. It is currently 7am and 47° Fahrenheit. It feels like winter all over again. I just finished sending out newsletters announcing our Flash Sale on the David's Garden Seeds® website. By using code VEG20 at checkout, save 20% on all individual vegetable seed packs. This does not include any seed collections. There is no minimum dollar amount. Simply use the one time code VEG20 when you check out and you will save 20% on every individual vegetable seed pack that you choose. Note that this is a one time code that is good starting right now through this coming Sunday, March 3 at midnight CST. It will end promptly then and there will not be another Flash Sale until next weekend.

Farm Fresh Eggs - 2 For $5 Now Thru Saturday!

Since my chickens won't stop laying, right now, we are having an egg sale. Normally, the eggs are $5 a dozen. But now through Saturday, March 2 at 2pm when we close the farm store, we are having an egg sale. Get two cartons for $5 and help me empty out my store fridge!

The wind is still blowing but not as hard as last night. My pond is full of oak leaves from the giant tree next door. Hopefully, I can clean it up some this morning and add some more water as it has gotten pretty low again.

David and I have a lunch appointment to go to but our Farm Store will still be open. Matt will be here running things while we are gone.

David and I took a couple from church to lunch to celebrate the man's birthday. We had so much fun. After that, we stopped by Morales Feed in Devine and bought some chicken feed and some fertilizer. Then we went to vote in the primary election.

While we were gone at lunch, by the way, Matt was very busy with a string of customers. We had a very good sales day.

We got back and it was colder than when we left. Matt unloaded the truck and one of our former team members stopped by on his way home from his job in San Antonio. He leaves out here somewhere. We had a good visit. Then I got busy with orders. I went in the house and made a meatloaf and potatoes. I filled orders while it baked. Then we ate out there. It is now 9pm and the flash sale I started this morning has really brought in a lot of sales! I have a large stack of orders for the morning already.

Purple Tomatoes

This is a photo of the purple GMO tomato. As you can see, the entire tomato is purple, flesh and all.

A popular seed company located in the USA came out with a 2024 catalog featuring a purple tomato with purple flesh on the cover. They said they got this purple tomato from European growers and watched the growth of it for three years.

Norfolk, the patent owners of The Purple Tomato, found out and contacted this other seed company, letting them know they believed it was their GMO tomato. After this seed company tested the tomato, they could not say that it was not a GMO and pulled it from their seed selection. In a Facebook post by this seed company last week, they told a brief synopsis and said they will not be selling these tomato seeds.

I went on the patent owner's company website and found out a lot of interesting information about this whole situation. The company actually has a FAQ page that explains about what went on with the other seed company here.

Below is more information on The Purple Tomato.

Friday, March 1, 2024

Matt loves to photograph our chickens.

Good morning and Happy Friday! It is already the first of March! How is that possible? I woke up and it was 48°. The high today should be 79°. We froze yesterday all day long and now here comes summer again.

I made a delicious egg casserole for breakfast complete with cheese, sausage, mushroom, and potatoes. It is so good!

I was searching the refrigerator for an open can of dog food for Ethel. I fed her some of it last night but I could not find it anywhere. David found it in the dog cabinet...I guess I am losing it big time!

It is time to get ready for the day and start doing more orders. Because of the flash sale I started yesterday, the orders are really pouring in. Thank you to everyone!

So I spent the day doing orders as usual. We donated some seeds to the Earth Day celebration that Leon Valley, Texas is having tomorrow. One of their employees came out this afternoon and took some overstock to give out at the event tomorrow.

We had several customers who saw our commercial on TV. We did not sell much today but it did get warm, up to 77°. Tomorrow, it is supposed to be in the 80s.

We all worked late this evening. David and I came in the house once everyone left after 7pm. We missed part of Shark Tank. I fed the cat and dogs and ate some sushi that Matt gave me before he left. We got the store all stocked for tomorrow and we are looking forward to all of the new friends who will come out and see us from 10am until 2pm.

Now we are chilling in the den, watching season three of Kung Fu. Once this is over, we have Kung Fu The Legend Continues to start on. Kung Fu has just three seasons.

Purple Tomatoes

This is the Cherokee Purple Beefsteak Tomato, an heirloom. This is safe to eat and very tasty. It is a Non-GMO and we sell the seeds. The flesh is red.

Let's talk about heirloom purple tomatoes, not GMO tomatoes. The heirloom seeds are natural seeds that have been around for at least 50 to 75 years. They have a wonderful flavor. When you save the seeds from the fruit and plant them, the exact same plant comes up. They do not have to be doctored up in a lab and they are 100% tomato. They are not mixed with another genetic species to make them purple. They can be sort of purplish, reddish purple, or even almost black on the outside but inside they do not have purple flesh.

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Come try some pecan coffee this morning while you shop for seeds and plants.

Good morning. It is 47° and a bit foggy outside. It should hit 80° today but I am so cold right now. The Farm Store will be open starting at 10am and I will have some pecan coffee ground and brewed up for you to try. The ground coffee is going fast, faster than the whole bean. You can see what we have left in our coffee here.

David prefers whole bean coffee over the ground coffee. It makes your kitchen smell like Starbucks when you grind it fresh.

Below is a local map. The green dot shows where we are located. We have a Poteet mailing address but we are in Rossville, near Kyote.

David's Garden Seeds Farm is actually located between Rossville and Kyote on the upper left portion of this map. We are not near Poteet.

Our Farm Store day started at 9:30am when our first and second sets of customers showed up. (We don't open until 10am but I changed that to 9am today after this.)Then more and more kept coming. The day was very busy. At 2:15pm, I let the last customers out of the gate that shut at 2:05pm. Matt came to help me and I am grateful because I could not have handled going out to the greenhouse over and over while leaving customers in the store. At 2:15pm, I finally got to have some lunch and change from my workboots into crocs.

All of my eggs were gone hours before we shut the store for the day. Monday, I will have all new eggs and the sale is now off.

We worked on orders all afternoon. Matt grilled ribeyes for dinner and Svengoolie was a replay so we watched Star Trek: First Contact. It was good. I saw it when it first came out many years ago but had forgotten what happens.

Purple Tomatoes And Other Vegetables

Pictured are slices of Black Nebula carrot that we grew here on the farm. This is by far the sweetest carrot I have tasted and it is so pretty. Totally Non-GMO.

We sell many vegetables in the color purple but none of our seeds are GMO seeds. Right now, The Purple Tomato is the only GMO seed for home gardeners approved by the FDA for the home gardener to grow and only one company is allowed to sell it. All of our seeds are Non-GMO including purple asparagus, purple broccoli, purple carrots, purple cauliflower, purple bush and pole beans, purple artichokes, purple cabbage, purple lettuce, purple greens, purple kale, purple radishes, purple onions, purple bunching onions, purple shallots, purple peppers, and more. These are all safe, heirloom, tasty, and fun vegetables to grow.

The red cabbage that we grow is called Red Acre.

Sunday, March 3, 2024

I got up and got a lot done this morning. Then I got ready for church. Last week, the pastor pulled a surprise and quit after the sermon effective immediately. After he left, the members who were still there asked David to preach today.

David gave the message today. Some received it well. Others did not and told him. Fun times.

We are spending the afternoon pulling orders, hundreds and hundreds of them. The flash sale really generated a lot and we still have another seven hours to go until it ends. We will have another, different flash sale for next weekend. It is now 5pm. Next week at this time, it will be 6pm because next Saturday night we set the clocks ahead for Daylight Saving Time. I hate Daylight Saving Time.

See the pretty pink in the sky? I just love that and I don't see it often in the evenings.

Purple Tomatoes

This is the Purple Passion Asparagus that I grow in our asparagus beds. It is beautiful and tastes so good. It is a hybrid which is not GMO.

Purple is not a color to be feared in food. Many natural vegetables are colored purple. For some reason, the grocery stores feature one color like green beans, orange carrots, green asparagus, green broccoli, white cauliflower, and so on so seeing purple on your plate does not seem natural but it is. When God created our food, He made a lot of interesting and beautiful things for us to enjoy that do not involve genetically modified foods. Try growing a purple tomato or a purple carrot without fear as long as the seeds are heirloom!

Here are some of the purple heirloom beans that we carry.

What about cross pollination between The Purple Tomato and other plants that are Non-GMO? There is the possibility that other plants will become cross pollinated in the garden. If the other plants cross pollinate then they have the GMO genes and cannot be sold for profit due to the patent. Also, many people do not want to eat any GMO foods.

We grow purple heirloom bell peppers, too.

Return from Purple Tomatoes to Year Five On The Farm

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