Featured Vendor: A Talk with the Tomato Lady

By Elizabeth Poland

The Tomato Lady is back! Check out our brief interview to learn a little more about the Oconee Farmer Markets original vendor. 

What area few things we don’t know about the Tomato Lady?

 

“I come from a large family of 5 children. The only boy was the youngest, so all us girls were tractor drivers at a very young age. I farmed with my dad since about 8 years old.

I sell produce from my farm at Colbert. I also teach piano lessons. I may possibly own the only produce barn that has a piano studio in it.

When I have time in the winter, I enjoy carving gourds.

I am the only vendor at the market that was here when it was established. ”

What is your favorite way to eat your tomatoes?

“A tomato sandwich- that’s just bread, miracle whip, tomatoes, salt and pepper. ”

As the featured vendor, is there anything you’d like to share that is unique or special about your farm?

“My parents came to Colbert when daddy got home from WWII. He finished his agriculture degree at the University. Both parents were school teachers, but daddy’s desire was to buy a farm and farm–not just teach agriculture. When a farm he liked came up for sale, the word was a wealthy man from New York was coming down to buy it to add to his large adjacent land. Mama persuaded Daddy to go talk to the man when he arrived and tell him he wanted it as a farm to raise his family. No one but Daddy and the wealthy New Yorker was at the sale. Since they thought there was no use in trying to out bid him. He did not bid against Daddy. So it became the Prather Farm. Both my parents are buried there.