Food

Farmers Market: Coltivare cultivates heirloom tomatoes in Sunnyside

Diane and Thomas Osso have almost 130 organically grown plants
Diane Osso grows heirloom tomatoes in Sunnyside and sells them at the Durango Farmers Market as Coltivare. (Nick Gonzales/Durango Herald)

Some farmers market agriculture vendors grow a variety of plants, while other focus on one thing in particular. For Diane and Thomas Osso’s business Coltivare, that one thing is heirloom tomatoes.

“Coltivare means cultivate in Italian,” Diane Osso said. “My husband’s Italian and he had the brainchild of starting to grow heirloom tomatoes.”

She said they had a garden in the past, but when the Ossos moved to Durango from Golden three years ago, they ended up with a farm and greenhouses in Sunnyside. It was time for them to choose a particular crop to grow.

“We love tomatoes,” Osso said. “You just cannot buy good tomatoes at the grocery store … We’ve always grown tomatoes, and we have 80 acres, so we wanted to think of something to do on a bigger scale.”

She said they have just under 130 plants, and they are organically grown.

The most popular tomatoes Coltivare grows are Brandywines, she said, but the Ossos also have Cherokee Purples, San Marzanos (which are good for sauces and salsas) and a variety of cherry tomatoes. This year, they also started growing Greek tomatoes, but they have initially been slow to come in.

“We’d like to get into other things, but right now, tomatoes is it,” Osso said. “We’re just trying to perfect the tomato business.”

ngonzales@durangoherald.com



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