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Rosewood Celebrity Tomatoes Available Ahead of Season

After several months of hiatus, Rosewood Greenhouse tomatoes are back!

Celebrity Tomatoes, tasting as sweet and fresh as those picked from your summer garden, are now available. The tomatoes, grown with all-natural methods in Rosewood’s greenhouse, can be purchased at the Rosewood Furniture Gallery in downtown Great Bend.

“We’ve got about 150 tomato plants producing about 25 pounds of tomatoes a day,” said Greenhouse manager Frankie Pelster. “In full production mode, we’ll pick about 50 pounds a day.”

Besides being sold at the Furniture Gallery, Rosewood supplies several area restaurants with tomatoes. When available this spring and summer, they also will be sold at the Great Bend Farmer’s Market.

Some of the tomatoes are being used to make Rosewood Salsa. Jalapeño Peppers also are grown and used by client-employees in the production of Salsa and Cowboy Candy at Rosewood Studio. Those products are sold at Rosewood Wine Cellar and Furniture Gallery, both located in downtown Great Bend.

Growing produce is a daily process for about a dozen clients of Rosewood Services. Whether it’s the greenhouse or the garden, they are involved with every detail of growing, harvesting and distributing tomatoes and peppers. From seed planting, to darkroom germination, to transplanting plants, to fertilizing, spraying, picking produce and even delivering product to market, it’s a job they take seriously, said Pelster.

“Operating a garden and a greenhouse gives our client-employees different experiences in growing produce,” explained Pelster. “Believe it or not, from greenhouse to garden is quite different in process. But our clients pride themselves in learning every bit of each process and producing the best tomatoes and peppers, whether it’s greenhouse or garden growing. This job is a labor of love for them.”

The plan is to eventually produce tomatoes year-round. Pelster said the greenhouse plants will continue producing tomatoes through mid-summer. In May, Rosewood’s client-employees will plant tomatoes in the garden, and begin harvesting those plants by late July.

In addition, Rosewood is in the process of building another greenhouse, which is expected to more than double its current number of tomato plants. The new greenhouse will feature indoor heating and cooling to ensure tomato production year-round.