Jesus and TJ Farms’ tractor
Tonia started growing when she was young in a village in Mexico in Zacatecas. She remembers the corn, tomatillos, summer squash, winter squash and different varieties of beans grown near her home. Her family also raised pigs, chickens, cattle, donkeys and horses.
“It was the way people live in the village. We’d grab armfuls of amaranth greens and throw it to pigs. We had good clean water, and clean corrals,” recalls Tonia.
She met Frank Martin in 2002 and began selling produce at his farm stand on Northern and 59th Ave.
She managed the harvesting for Crooked Sky Farms (where Jesus also harvested and worked) until 2012.
They’d always wanted to have her own farm and decided to jump into the farming business after a leap of faith.
“We must be doing something good because it’s working out,” says Tonia. They have loyal customer and a 50 member Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program at Momma’s Organic Market in Peoria at the 101 and Northern location called Park West.
TJ Farms - Fresh & Local Arizona Produce 