The Tasteful Garden in the early days, Heflin AL
Cindy Martin at The Tasteful Garden greenhouses

The Tasteful Garden was started in 1996 by Cindy Martin. Her dream was to share her love of gardening, culinary herbs and freshly picked vegetables with everyone she could reach! She and her husband George gradually built their nursery and greenhouses to supply home gardeners across the country with big, beautiful, healthy plants. Cindy’s own recipes and video tutorials helped folks to enjoy the fruits of their labors and see how simple it can be to enjoy delicious dishes prepared with Heirloom Tomatoes, Peppers and Herbs. Her dedication to customers, love of gardening and personal touch made The Tasteful Garden a success.

After growing their business for over 20 years the Martins retired and moved to be closer to their son. Some of their employees stepped up to run the business and kept the dream alive. Sadly, Cindy lost her long battle with cancer in the Spring of 2020. Fast forward to 2021 and the baton was passed to their good friends, Will and Laurie Moore.

George and Cindy Martin
The Farmhouse at Moore Farms (copyright Jamie Ellis Photography)
Will and Laurie Moore at Moore Farms

Will and Laurie had been avid home gardeners where they grew up in Michigan and eventually moved to the 100-year-old Moore family farm in Alabama. Over the years they became market farmers and developed a successful Farm Box program with deliveries to Atlanta, Georgia. The Martins and the Moores shared their love of good food, organic growing practices and had much in common. Their businesses kept them all very busy but over the years they made time to enjoy meals, music and a glass of wine together. Recognizing the opportunity to continue the business Cindy and George built would also mean moving The Tasteful Garden operation to their farm in Woodland, Alabama and a big new adventure.

In preparing to re-launch The Tasteful Garden for the 2022 season, Will and Laurie decided to scale back a bit and focus on Cindy’s original vision: growing and shipping beautiful Heirloom Tomatoes, Peppers and Culinary Herbs to home gardeners. Welcome back to The Tasteful Garden, we’re glad you are here.

How We Grow

We grow our plants using only natural techniques and we fully support what we call “heritage gardening” the way our grandparents grew their food. This is gardening the old-fashioned way by recycling farm or yard waste into compost and improving the soil instead of stripping the nutrients year after year. Plants grow healthier and stronger in good soil and need fewer pesticides because they have natural abilities to fight off pests and disease. Heirloom varieties of vegetables bring diversity and flavors to the garden while preserving the seeds for future generations. Mulching, cover cropping and other “organic” techniques allow us to leave improved soil year after year as well as enjoying a beautiful garden with delicious vegetables.

This is How We Cook, Too!

We love to cook and eat our vegetables and herbs from the garden. Healthy modern cooking calls for lighter more flavorful ingredients and fresh herbs can add so much more flavor to your recipes, without adding salt, sugar, or fats. The Tasteful Kitchen section of our website highlights ways to enjoy your harvests, preserve fresh flavors and the recipes are ones we prepare here on the farm.

Our Online Store

Our online store provides information about growing and using fresh herbs and vegetables and our advice comes from our own experience. We offer growing tips and techniques to help new gardeners get started and hope to inspire experienced gardeners to try new things. We have “been there and done that” and hope to help everyone enjoy gardening, whether you have a big plot of land or just some patio pots.