When Russell Carter started raising tomatoes in northern Minnesota, he was carrying on a family tradition. While growing up in Michigan, he helped his father, Clinton Frederick Carter, cultivate field tomatoes. In 1954, Russell moved with his new bride Maxine to Park Rapids, Minnesota. That first summer, he seeded tomatoes in the house, and planted them on the south slope of their garden.

Here in the photo, nearly fifty years later in 2003, Grandpa Russell Carter shows tomato seedlings to his granddaughter Anna.

Today, in Minnesota, Maryland, Idaho, and Iowa, Russell’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren continue to raise tomato seedlings. And this summer in Idaho, Russell’s great-grandson Boone watched his father, Clinton Carter, plant tomatoes in their garden.