Heirloom Tomatoes & TRACES GARDENS, an Oasis in the City

Today I found out why I feel almost transformed when I visit Traces Garden, a wonderful local spot where you can find special and unique gifts, flowers year round, organic seeds, and in the summer season organic vegetables growing beautifully along side flowers and heirloom tomatoes. This garden has been a garden since the time Salt Lake City was first settled. Tanya Chatterton, the owner, was kind enough to give me the lowdown on the history of how she came to be caretaker and gardener of this beautiful oasis in the middle of Sugar House. The land had always been owned by some family member of no other than Brigham Young and when the last of that particular line died off, Tanya presented her plan to keep the property as a garden while other options came into turn the space into a variety of other uses including multiple family units. The garden option won even though it was not the most lucrative. Hallelujah!

A beautiful 1910ish bungalow sits on the front of the property and the gardens are in the back.This is a place where you can come and see where your food comes from, who planted it and cared for it. As you walk the beautiful rows you can even choose which of the several varieties of heirloom tomatoes or organic vegetables you want and Natalie, or Johnnie or if you’re very lucky Tanya will pick them for you.

My last two runs to Traces Gardens have produced two large gallon size bags of basil to make my favorite pesto, which is on my friend Bonnie's blog. The basil was a bargain at $7 a bag and it’s 100% organic and delicious. The heirloom tomatoes I got over the weekend are being enjoyed one at a time. These are real tomatoes. They actually have flavor, like the kind we use to have before the tomatoes were fixed and changed into something that we have been told are tomatoes but are really just masquerading as tomatoes.

This Saturday, August 28, Traces Garden is holding it’s annual “Art in the Garden” from 10 AM to 5 PM. There will be local artists, jewelry, metal sculptures, glass, ceramics, weaving and best of all light refreshments featuring organic garden produce and heirloom tomato samples. Really, what more could you want on a Saturday than to be in a charming garden filled with music, art and something tasty to eat? Bring a friend and come see a beautiful garden growing in the middle of the city!