In order to maintain its commitment to being a true farm-to-table market, Rudy’s Happy Patch Market relies on a variety of local growers, including family farms, to provide freshly picked produce. One such enterprise is Buchanan Farms, a Sumter County farm that is currently providing almost half a ton of tomatoes to the market each week.

After making a promise to offer ripe tomatoes year-round, Perry Wellness Center founder and CEO Stuart Perry found that he had difficulty keeping up with demand. While he strongly prefers to utilize only area growers, he had to import tomatoes from as far away as Florida at times.

“I wanted to be the first in our area to offer tomatoes,” Stuart explains. “Now that Buchanan Farms has beautiful tomatoes, I will cut back on my earlier providers. I want to be sure that we offer our growing customer base the freshest and tastiest tomatoes they have ever had.”

On one recent morning, Jim Buchanan delivered a load of tomatoes and peppers. He appreciates the business from PWC’s market and is keeping up with the steady demand.

“This year, I planted some 800 tomato plants on ½ acre of my most fertile area,” Buchanan says. “With the rains and irrigation, our tomato crop has been good. I try to deliver 800-1000 pounds of tomatoes per week to Stuart and Happy Patch Market. They are good customers!”

In the photo above, Jim Buchanan presents a display of newly gathered banana peppers and a sign announcing Buchanan Farms’ tables of fresh tomatoes.