Gardeners Sharing their Knowledge and Joy
Hope this is helpful in creating food not boughtGardening
Learn techniques to increase your food not bought.
Agricultural Therapy
Learn how we work with the elderly and veterans to spread the healing power of gardening.
Ivan Tomato Rescue
Discover the Journey to Saving a Tomato
Food Diversity
What is happening to our food supply and why is it important to save heirloom varieties.
101 Reasons to Preserve Food
“Why do you preserve food, albeit can, dehydrate, ferment or freeze?” This is the question I posed to several of my social media groups. I was blessed with a massive response. The list below comes from the passionate comments of 100’s folks that are part of Rebel...
No Plants For the 2022 Season
This is an odd and difficult post to write. I wanted to let you all know that we have appreciated your support over the years for our small family-run nursery and seed store. A big part of our business is based on producing thousands of plants to help our local...
Making it through the first summer of Covid with 5000 Plants
We did it. This past spring season was an incredible experimental rollercoaster for my plant nursery, Victory Gardeners. We proved that the model of running a plant nursery from a suburban backyard could be done during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. For the...
Grit Magazine Covers the Ivan Tomato
Grit Magazine Supporters Rock Grit Magazine was kind enough to run our story in this summer’s edition. This resulted in a wonderful showing of support through seed sales, phone calls, letters and sharing. I had no idea that this would happen and was so thrilled and...
We’ve Got it: The 2018 Lineup
Oh Boy, we are growing some great plants. We are going to offer some amazing heirlooms that you will not be able to find elsewhere. We worked hard to create a line up that covered all the bases from the best high yield local heirlooms to hard to find ethnic...
The Story of how we saved the Ivan Tomato
This story of how we saved the Ivan tomato is a great read. It helps to put the sets that lead to our journey into perspective. How did we take this tomato we loved and make it a tomato that can now be found in 46 states and 6 countries outside the USA. Discover the...
From Indiegogo to Farmers Market
The Ivan Tomato Goes from Indiegogo to Farmers Market Saving the Ivan took many steps. In the last blog, I outlined how the team was put together for our first year. The next step was to figure out how to build a buzz for a tomato that hardly anyone knew existed. As...
Growing the Rock Star Plants
Which Rock Star Plants should you grow to maximize your Garden Yield We all get so excited each winter when the seed catalogs start to arrive. I know not everyone grows from seeds and if you grow from starts you will be limited by what you can find locally. So, the...
From Kitchen Window to Market Booth
The second year of the Ivan Tomato Rescue Project started as our first growing season concluded. We had a small greenhouse in my backyard and some experience under our belts. I began to plan out how to move forward with our second year in business while I enjoyed...
Amish Plant Action Adventures
There are times when you learn lessons easy and there are those that you learn by fire. My first plant auction was a learning experience by fire. Last year was the first year we did a market booth and we purchased many of our plants as plugs. Thus, the auction was...
We are the Victory Gardeners
This is our second year as the Victory Gardeners. We find Missouri's Family Heirloom Food producers gems and bringing them back into the market. Yet who are each of us individually and why do we work so well together as a team? This year's team is made up...
Non Gardener’s Guide to Gardening Volume 3: Harvest Season
The Start of Harvest Season After working all year toward a large harvest, we are starting to bare the fruits of our labor. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of going out to the farm to work on a few things. The first of which was to discuss some of the great products we...
Non Gardener’s Guide Volume 2: Lessons Learned on Growing Ivan Tomatoes
This certainly has been an interesting year. I have changed from a corporate professional to an entrepreneur. The change has been magical, I am really enjoying it. I helped grow 5,500 plants with my family and our partner (Becky, the watering queen). It has been a...
Markets Where You Can Find US
Victory Gardeners - Ivan Tomato Rescue Project will be at the following Markets The Columbia Farmers Market ARC 1701 West Ash, Columbia MO Saturday 8am-12pm April 15 2017- May 20th 2017 Baker Creek Planting Festival 2278 Baker Creek Road, Mansfield, MO...
The Non-Gardener’s Guide to Gardening, Volume 1
I must admit that I had absolutely zero interest in gardening for the first 44 years of my life. For the past two years, my interest has been growing slowly. This timeline corresponds with my wife’s decision to start her own gardening business about two years...
The Ivan’s ride to the Market – Part 1 – Growing the Ivan
I know I have been out of touch and remiss on that front. But frankly, since about mid-February, I have been a farmer, as such and my life has been driven by mother nature's processes. We started the first trays of Ivan's in February. We planted two 72 flats and put...
Victory Gardeners 2017 Plant Line-Up for Market and On-line Sales
Hi everyone, here is our 2017 Plant Line-Up. We are entering the 2017 season and it is starting with great enthusiasm and new ideas. We have decided on most of our 2017 line-up of plants to bring to market. We learned a lot from our first season and now know much...
Food Not Bought Blog and Heirloom Gardener
I am so excited to say I am blogging for Heirloom Gardener. I started a blog called Food Not Bought. Food Not Bought, is a blog that will cross over from the Ivan back and forth across the garden. It will cover topics of the kitchen and how to build a pantry full...