♪ It's always adventure.

These used to be pastures where we had cattle and sheep and horses and everything.

But it takes so much fuel to keep it clear.

Wilding is letting it go back to the forest that it was originally.

And here's the house.

Welcome to Snow Spring Farm.

Yeah.

I'm Peg Davis, and the farm is Snow Spring Farm.

It's named because the first year we lived here, we had one blizzard after another, after another after another.

And the snow was so deep and we didn't know what we were going to call the farm, you know?

But then we realized that this sprin was being fed by the snow melt.

So we called it Snow Spring.

And it's stuck.

This tre is on the historical register.

It's one of the only remaining America elm trees in the United States.

And we have a couple of babies that we're nurturing.

It's so isolated that it didn't get sick from the dutch elm, but it's our air conditioner because it covers the whole house and it keeps us cool.

Yeah.

So come on this way.

[rooster crow] ♪ Before we were the United States, the house was built.

It was built in 1762.

We saw a lot of places, but they'd be on a road, you know, and I'd think I wouldn't be able to have a dog because it would get hit by a car.

And the kids will run in the road and get hit.

So when we drove down this lane, I didn't care what the house was like.

You know, it was really a challenge.

You know, but we made it a home.

The way I found it was in the newspaper, and there was this little, little article and it said 155.47 acres.

The price was $69,500.

In those days, that was like a million, you know.

So I was the breadwinner but I would make $720 a month, and the mortgage was $598.98, and I paid the mortgage before I did anything.

And I raised the kids on that little bit that was left over.

You know, get seeds, grow and can and then raise our milk cow and make cheese and make butter.

♪ come on now.

Ill show you around.

I grow like I think about 2 different varieties of tomatoes.

So it's all a mix.

The bucket is filled with the soil medium.

That is, dolomitic pulverized lime.

And that help keep it from blossom end rot and and all that.

And that's all mixed in.

And then we add a layer of lime and mix it up, and then we make, lik a volcano, like a big pile here down to about here.

And then we put a ring of this organic fertilizer down there.

Can't use chemical fertilizer because it will destroy the soil.

After a year, it develops salt.

So we use the organic.

And then we fill this in.

We cover the fertilizer.

And when we plant the plant, we water it one time, just about two and a half cups of water.

And that will start that column wicking up.

So this is the wicking cup and I put slits in it and then the roots come out.

There's many many holes we drilled.

This is this is this is any drill this this hole to put this cup in.

And, some of the summer tomatoes have more roots than others.

This one has light roots, bu it's a big plant, so that's good So the water has fish in it and they're, they're native minnows.

They keep all the mosquito larva out of the standing water.

And they eat the algae, so they keep the trough clean.

You can see the roots are in the water, but we have 500 fish in the troughs.

They poop and then they fertilize the tomatoes.

So they make their water very rich.

We just try to do it naturally.

You know?

Yeah.

So I'll show you the big hoop house.

I collect heirloom seeds from rare places all over the world.

My goal is to grow a tomato from every state in the United States and every country.

So the Japanese trifele is a Russian tomato Trifele translates as truffle.

So this is it.

This is a Japanese truffle.

They're delicious.

Yeah.

And then this one is a Russian tomato called Paul Robeson.

Paul Robeson was a gospel singer, and he found this tomato.

And it has kind of a cult following.

It's absolutely delicious.

And then Cherokee Purple is real popular.

That's an American Indian tomato Tie Dye.

So really cool.

And then Gold Medal is here.

So then this is a Sidduth Brandywine.

That's the original Brandywine.

You know, people have messe with the Brandywine crossing it now there's black Brandywines, purple Brandywines, you know but this is the original strain.

You know, and then this is the tomato I get from this guy in Poland who doesn't speak English.

But it's called Bear Claw, so it's really rare.

Then this is Seed Savers.

Flagship tomato, the German pink.

You know that one?

Yes.

I got a bunch of big boys [...] So I always grow a whole row of those because I really like them, you know?

So this tomato is almost done.

It's almost done.

Ah!

Aiden.

Horn worm.

Come.

♪ Hes here.

This i what organic gardening is like.

Although we're not allowed to call ourselves organic.

Ever seen a horn worm?

Hes really ugly.

Isnt he gross?

They get really big.

Which side was he on?

He was right here.

And over your head.

See how we make the tunnel?

These are the Peg O My Hearts coming over the top, and they're really ugly right now because they're really past and they have blight.

But we don't spray.

So, we just kind of keep the lower leaves off, and then they come back over the top for the fall.

And they, they survive the bligh Pretty cool.

Yeah.

I have to fix something.

[...].

I think I got in.

Yeah, I need help.

Can you hold this up while I tie it?

Here.

See if that holds.

I think it's going to.

Okay.

Yeah.

So these are the Peg O My Hearts in both these rows.

You see all the new growth up here.

So we'll have more tomatoes in the fall, you know.

So I grow maybe ten new varieties every year.

And then the customers give me reviews and they tell me, I'll show you one.

Wait.

I got a review yesterday.

I forgot to text you the other day.

The Buckeye tomato, which is over there, was very good.

But the Peg O My Heart is still better.

The Peg is delicious as always.

I was teaching at Wilson Memorial High School in the greenhouse there and wonderful students.

This is in.

I must have been 20 something, 20 early 20s and, we were growing all these different tomatoes and having plant sales, and I was teaching them about hybrid tomatoes versus heirloom tomatoes.

And this, this little ninth grade girl one day came in and she had this little tiny packet of seeds, and she said, I wonder i you'd like to grow this tomato.

This is my family's tomato.

But my grandparents are dead and my parents don't like to garden.

But I saved these seeds from my grandparents, and I just wondered if you wanted to try it.

So I did.

And so it was a fabulous tomato.

And I built these teepees like this, you know, and I would grow that tomato and, improve it every year, picking the very best to save the seed from.

And, so I've grown it for almost 50 years.

♪ I love this tomato.

[rooster crows] And they're going to be beautiful.

When somebody gives me their famil tomato, it's a big deal because they're giving you their heritage.

You know, I've been given several.

I have the Amazing Grace tomato, which was a man in Lexington, which is that way South.

And he came to m and he said: Peg, I have cancer.

My wife died and I have no children.

And this is the tomato that I've grown all my life where you keep it going.

So we keep it going.

I started growing the Peg O My Heart tomato and it got better and better and better.

You know, I was telling you in the hoop house that when a family gives you the seed of their family tomato, that, you know, that family's grown it for a hundred years.

And this little girl who gave me the seed was her family had come from Pennsylvania.

So I knew that that tomato had roots in Germany.

And for some reason, I'm really partial to German tomatoes.

They're just different, you know?

They're just.

Yeah.

Hey, Daniel, did you remember the zucchetta?

Zucchetta?

You'll need a crate or two.

Yeah.

This is Zuchetta, its an Italian zucchini.

And you have to say like this “Zuchetta”, right?

Yeah.

So we sell baby squash and lemon squash and big squash.

Now, we'll put these out at the market.

But they wont all sell, you know, so much squash.

♪ And so I'm going to harvest this like this.

So I cut this off.

And toss it.

Yeah.

Now I gotta go watch the bacon.

And cut the tomatoes.

♪ It's going to go.

I wouldn't save this one for seed because it's got kind of a big scar, but it's not a deep scar so I don't lose too much tomato when I do that.

This is the chicken bucket.

Oh really nice big slices.

That's what you want for a sandwich tomato.

Nice big meaty slice.

♪ Some nights Ill cut all different kinds of tomatoes for all the kids.

And we'll have a contest.

Which one is best?

That's a better.

Oh, you don't lose very much that way.

I make big slices of tomatoes.

That doesnt have a big top.

Our chickens eat really well.

♪ Oh, yeah.

This is nice.

That that.

That's a beauty.

See how meaty that is?

You don't want these cavities to be too big.

I'll start as soon as the tomatoes in the seed house start ripening.

I'll pick ou the characteristics that I want.

So it's all genetics.

So I want the little dimple on the bottom so that when you cut it you can just and it's shallow.

This this is the blossom end.

And you've seen I have some cat face tomatoes in there.

They're all deformed.

And that's because the little blossom gets cold and it sticks to the tomato, which is why I knock all the little blossoms off when I see them.

So, and I want, I want the shape.

I want it to be the classic shape, like that.

And I want, I want this, the stem end not to be deep.

Because you, you lose a slice of tomato that way.

So you want to ge as many slices out of the tomato as possible, and over time the flavor gets better and the uniformity gets better where they're more and more alike.

This is a really good tomato.

Yeah.

And so the way you save seeds is I'll go out to the hoop house and Ill write “seed” on the tomatoes that are going to be seed in big black marker.

So we're not going to eat those.

We're going to let them ripen completely on the vine.

So they're almost rotten.

And so that we're sure the seeds are mature.

And then I bring them in the kitchen and its all falling apart.

And there's not a lot of seeds in each one that's the other thing that I've developed is it's very meaty and very few seeds.

So but I'll scrape those seeds out and put them in a mason jar, put cold water on them and shake them up.

And then I let them sit for several days and they start to ferment.

And that fermenting prevents seed borne disease so that you're not carrying disease on.

And so you ferment them for about two weeks.

And every day you take it gets all foamy and really smelly.

So you pour the foam off and add cold water and shake.

And over tim you'll see that the good seeds fall to the bottom of the jar, and then you pour the debris off the top every day.

So then when you're done, after about two weeks, you've got clean water and clean seeds.

And then I put them on a cookie sheet, not paper towels, because that sticks.

I put them on a cookie sheet and dry them and then when they're all dry, then I put them in the bag for next year and send some to you.

Kind of hard because they're always the most beautiful, perfect tomato.

And you can't eat it and you can't sell it.

You got to save it.

And it's really hard.

♪ Don't tell anybody.

But I hate making pies.

It's not growing stuff.

It's just work, you know.

but then you practice and yo get good and people love them.

And so it's my great, great, great.

Three greats great great great grandmother's secret pie crust recipe.

So, it's pretty special.

♪ Yeah.

So Ill pick one variety at a time.

♪ Now this is Virginia Sweets.

These are low acid tomatoes.

I don't like yellow tomatoes because I like the, like, have a pop at the end of the taste of a tomato.

But a lot of people can't.

They can't have that high acid.

So they want a low acid tomato.

Okay.

I don't kno whether to take that one or not.

So it doesn't have good color on the bottom.

So I think I'm going to leave it to next week.

No, I take it I'll take it.

♪ And the pies are my least favorite thing to do.

But harvestin tomatoes is my favorite thing.

It's always a treasure hunt.

♪ Virginia Sweets Gold Medal and Paul Robeson.

[ambient sounds] Yeah, this is like finding gold, you know, to find the tomatoes.

[ambient sounds] Don't tell the doctor I'm walking without my cane.

I'll get in trouble.

Oh, we got a big one here.

So see, now, this one.

You look at the botto and it's almost perfectly ripe, but not quite.

So somebody is going to eat thi one on like, Friday, you know.

So that's a Bear Claw.

I have one more tomato in this row.

Grandpa Charlie and Grandpa Charlie and Grandpa Charlie.

You can't put them in your pocket when theyre real ripe.

But when they're like that, you can safely put them in your pocket.

♪ Its an ugly little guy.

♪ Now this is Seed Savers new tomato.

Council Bluffs, and I like it.

♪ This is a, the original strai of Brandywine from the Sudduth family from the Brandywine Valley in Pennsylvania.

This tomato wins so many taste competitions.

It's delicious.

But I think the Peg O My Heart is just as good.

So now I'm picking Peg O My Hearts that are ready.

And these plant have produced so much already.

Oh my gosh.

It's just like unbelievable.

It's such a productive tomato.

[ambient sounds] That one has too much green.

[ambient sounds] Too much green.

But I always take a few green tomatoe for people that like to fry them Yeah.

[ambient sounds] ♪ So I saying, these are little tiny pullet eggs.

Theyre the first eggs that chickens lay and they're tiny, like that, and they're delicious, but they get bigger as the chicken gets older.

♪ These are, they call them Easter egg layers.

They're blue or green.

They're laid by Ameraucanas chickens.

And one time at the market, a lady came and she was lookin at the blue eggs, and she said, are they blue inside too?

we're saying, no, it's a regular egg.

If you don't farm, you don't know.

You know.

Oh, I have to get better [...] in here.

I always took my kids to Florida for summers, you know, summer vacation and, I would go to every farmer's market all up and down the East Coast looking, learning.

And I learned about the different kinds of farmer's markets.

Most farmers markets in the United States are resale markets, and resale market is where buy a refrigerated truck and you drive to Florida and drive to Georgia for peaches.

You drive, you fill your truck, and then you come back and you resell them at a profit.

So that's most of the United States farmers markets are resale.

This market was was modeled on Williamsburg, Virginia market which is called producer only.

And a producer only market is the kind you want to go to because the farmer who gre it is the person in the booth.

And you can ask them, what do you spray or do you spray?

You know, how did you grow this?

And so that's been part of my joy in the farmers market is that I'm a lot of people's farmer.

It makes me cry to say that.

But I'm their farmer.

♪ You're going to be the secretary now.

[Indistinct chatter and instrumental music] [ambient sounds] ♪ We're still setting up, Dwayne.

We're coming along.

How long have you been buying these tomatoes?

Probably ever sinc they have been setting up here a long time.

20 some years, I think.

Haven't we?

Yeah, it's just grea little market a lot of character It helps the city.

Its cool.

♪ This is my most famous customer.

And Jim is my best critic.

He helps me pick the varieties to grow.

And every week he gets 14.

Jim: Yes.

Peg: 14 tomatoes.

So you better pick.

Yes.

We're still setting up.

Yes, ma'am.

So you go.

♪ What time will you sell out?

I don't know.

Let's see.

We have a lot today.

We have almost 300 pounds and yeah.

They want the best.

So they come early, you know.

You don't want to miss any of these Peg O My Heart.

You can tell them all about it.

All right.

They have the best tomatoes here ever.

Thank you.

She has the best produce, but this Peg O My Heart.

I ask her every week when I come to.

I start in April: When?

When?

When are they going to be ready?

♪ I live alone so I can only eat so many a week.

I'm going to keep setting up.

Peg: I'll see you next week.

Jim: Thank you.

Hey.

Okay.

Okay.

So some tomatoes, this.

Do we have to weigh these?

Peg: Yeah.

Did you see?

I see you Monday.

Yep, yep.

It's all different colors inside.

When you see this slice.

Yeah.

You get all these different colors.

Oh, what's that?

Oh, it's like I usually take them home and the ones I haven't had, I put a sticker on my, in a notebook that I have, and I just, you know, make comments about it because she has so many.

And every year she's got different ones.

So you never know.

I always like to get hers, the Peg O My Hearts, but I have to try a bunch of the others also.

My customers pretty much have picked all these things, so it's just a back and forth relationship that just so beautiful, you know.

And I love it, you know.

It gives me purpose, gives me joy, you know.

especially on a Saturday that's coming up because we've got a nice bunch of tomatoes and we're going to make a lot of people happy on Saturday.

Yeah.

[background chatter] This one's funny.

It looks like Frankenstein.

And this one's really big.

This one's even bigger.

[backgound chatter and instrumental music] Customer: No problem.

Peg: How are you doing?

Customer: Good.

How are you doing?

There's potatoes down here, squash under there.

Those Italian beans are real good.

And then there's regular green beans.

Italian ones have a lot of flavor.

Yeah, yeah.

Sorry, Cathy.

You should have texted me.

Okay.

How are you?

I'm okay.

How are you?

You know, a farmers market i like a microcosm of the world.

So you have all these different people, you know, and it's just so fascinating that, you know, it's fascinating to see what people choose to wear to the farmers market.

You know, the ladie with the hats and the baskets.

And then we have lots of dogs at the market.

People bring their dogs to, to parade around.

We used to be called a yuppie puppy market.

Farmers market prices are higher than the store.

So we were criticized for catering only to the wealthy.

So we've diversified our clientele to have not just the wealth but the needy as well, you know?

So that's our job.

Being there is not just to be the farmer growing good food for them, but the person who cares about them.

the market is a really good place.

I can hardly wait for you to be there.

That's a Grandpa Charlie.

It's an heirloom from Indiana.

This is awesome.

Peg: You dont want something that big?

Customer: I don't mind.

This is a great tomato you're going to like them better then the reds.

Customer: Okay.

♪ This is good.

Yes.

It's good.

Right.

So, do a Cherokee and then come and get a pink one from that side.

Jack for 20 years has come here and said: you can't grow a tomato like New Jersey.

You can't do it.

You can't do it.

We've been testing them for years.

Peg: But 4 years ago.. Jim: But finally, she nailed it.

Four years ago, Jack said to me it was the best compliment I ever had.

He said: Peg, you know what your doing.

But she developed the [...].

We found she has a combination of sweetness and tartness in tomatoes.

Top quality.

Basically better than Jersey tomatoes.

My name is Ian Boden.

I'm the chef owner of The Shack a restaurant in Staunton, Virginia.

The texture and the density of the flesh of these tomatoes is just, I think, is heaven.

That's crazy to me.

She takes the time to label every single one of he tomatoes, every single market, and I don't know how many hundreds of pounds she sells every day.

But as she can tell you, it's insane.

And her handwriting is beautiful.

Some people like acidic tomatoes.

Some people like really acidic, very juicy tomatoes.

Some people like meaty, hearty sandwich tomatoes, slicers.

And some people want to make gazpacho.

I know by all the cat face crazy ones, because they're just going to chop them all up.

But over the years, I realized that I had to teach my customers.

And so I started putting the variety names on with this tape that comes off.

And, I tell my customers to keep these little yellow tags and find a flat surface, a bulletin board, or a refrigerator.

And I said: you need to find out what kind of tomato you love.

So when you eat one, you put the tag on your refrigerator.

And then if you need another one and you like it better, you put that tag on top.

So you keep rotating to find out what what do you like, you know.

And it's been amazing because they get into it.

They're so fascinated with all the varieties.

They want to hear the storie of all the different tomatoes, you know, and.

And most of them like this one, the best.

Peg O My Heart.

Yeah.

Yeah.

♪ When I was a child, I hated tomatoes.

I thought they were jus the worst things in the world.

And I never ate tomatoes.

I just hated them.

You met Daniel.

I was nine months pregnant with him in August.

August is tomato peak time.

And, there was this Peg O My Heart tomato out there and I just tore into it, you know, like, just the juice running all down my face.

And it was.

It was kind of a spiritual experience.

My mission has been to share that experience with every one of my customers, that they can have the best tomato they ever ate in their life.

And come back and tell me that.

That's the reward.

♪ My goal is to grow a tomato from every state in the United States and every country.

So the Japanese Trufale, is a Russian tomato.

I was married to a Navy pilot, out of college.

And it was during the Vietnam War and we divorce when the kids were still tiny.

I had two kids and a Chevy Nova, 1966 Chevy Nova car.

No money.

What am I going to do?

You need a red light, green light day.

And you think about all the things in your life and the things that when you're not happy, your memories.

Those are red lights.

You don't want to go that direction.

The green light is when you remember something some time when you were really happy.

And that's the direction your life should go.

The first memory I had of pur happiness was the first morning I spent on the farm as a nin year old, and it was pure joy.

And so I said to myself on my red light, green light day, I said, okay, I am going to raise my kids on a farm.

They're going to have chores, they're going to be needed.

They're going to feel important and necessary in this world.

♪ The green light.

[rooster crows] When you see the rooster, sorry about that.

That's Easy He's a very obnoxious rooster.