About Tomato Mountain Farm
The name is homage to owner Chris Covelli’s first foray into farming in the ancient Baraboo Mountain Range. Among the mountain cliffs Chris grew tomatoes and built a foundation of knowledge that is still being built upon nearly two decades later. Uncompromising from the start, Chris has always been dedicated to quality first and over the many years Tomato Mountain Farm has garnered a hard-earned reputation for its commitment to craft.
Purchased in 1999, the current site of Tomato Mountain Farm is nestled in the foothills of Brooklyn, Wisconsin. Transitioned from conventional corn and soybean agriculture, its 12 acres were soon producing quality, certified organic fruit and vegetables with tomatoes occupying center stage. Tomato Mountain Farm quickly built relationships around Wisconsin and Illinois, selling to farmers’ markets, restaurants, and stores, while also running the farm as a CSA.
In 2004, Tomato Mountain Farm began producing its own line of homemade salsas, preserves, soups, and other jarred products such as pasta sauce and bloody mary mix. The truly unique combination of an organic farm dedicated to producing quality, delicious produce and a kitchen that processes and grows all its own ingredients right at home has helped these products quickly come to represent the bulk of Tomato Mountain Farm's business.
Now, as Tomato Mountain Farm continues to expand and perfect its jarred product line, it will be once again offering CSA shares. There is undoubtedly much that lies ahead for this company, but for now, the view from ‘The Mountain’ suggests the future looks bright.
Chris
Farm owner, operator, and manager since Tomato Mountain started in 1993, Chris has worked relentlessly for almost twenty years to bring fresh produce to Southern Wisconsin and North Eastern Illinois. Inspired by Yvon Chouinard's business practices at Patagonia and supported by the work of countless friends and coworkers, Chris continues to bring sustainable business practices and conscientious stewardship to Tomato Mountain Farm.
Kurt
Kurt is in charge of the day-to-day, hour-to-hour, minute-by-minute operations of the farm, things like what should get harvested first, where people are weeding, what needs to be watered etc. He generally keeps track of the details so Chris can focus on the larger picture of the farm operation.
In his own words, "I joined Tomato Mountain after seeing and ad on Craigslist for help at Chicago farmers markets. I had worked on farms for several years before taking a job loading trucks, and was hoping to reconnect with my food and the land. After talking to Chris for a while, and working with him at a few markets, Chris asked me if I would consider working on the farm. My wife Christy and I were planning on moving up to the Madison area in a few years anyway, so we decided to just accelerate the plan by 4 or 5 years."
Christa
Back with Tomato Mountain after a brief hiatus, Christa has been a significant presence at Tomato Mountain for over 10 years. Her work in nearly every capacity plays an important part in supporting the farms day-to-day activities. In the past, she has overseen the farm's seed starting, making sure our plants came up strong and healthy, and represented Tomato Mountain at Dane County Farmers' Market.
Robin
The face of Tomato Mountain in Chicago, Robin continues to set the mark for how much we can achieve as a farm. After joining us in January of 2009, Robin has greatly amplified our presence in Chicago farmers' markets and helped spearhead our renewed CSA program to serve over 200 shareholders in 2010. Out customer base continues to expand in new and exciting ways due to her diligent efforts.
Sean is the cheery face behind many of our market stands, but he also does yeoman service year-round doing whatever the farm needs… from making late-night CSA deliveries, serving up samples at in-store demos, schlepping cases from one place to another, stacking pallets of salsa. He won’t get much time off during his second full season, but his passion for cooking up vegan feasts coincides nicely with his work with Tomato Mountain.
This white pine is prominently planted on the farm to commemorate Lucy, who was with Chris and Tomato Mountain since before the farm was in its current location. She passed away in August of 2011. 