Suzanne Peabody Ashworth juggles the planting and picking of crops, outgoing orders and incoming chefs with a bang-bang-bang rhythm that leaves visitors breathless.

Outside, 1,800 cherry tomato plants go into the ground. Inside, she plans another demonstration to introduce restaurant chefs and staff to her latest fresh-picked culinary wonders.

The dynamo behind Del Rio Botanical, Ashworth has made her organic vegetables a well-known brand name at finer restaurants throughout Sacramento. She has also brought rare and unusual vegetables into home kitchens through her farm's community-supported agriculture boxes, delivered weekly with an assortment of gourmet produce.

Home to celebrity chefs, celebrity winemakers and, well, celebrities, the Golden State is now minting celebrity farmers whose produce is prized in restaurant and home kitchens.

Here, in the shadow of the state's preeminent agricultural university, the movement seems perfectly natural. And Ashworth, a UC Davis graduate, was and is on the leading edge of the trend.

"I've lived here all my life," says Ashworth, the third generation of her family to farm her ranch. "I saw the changes, from picking tomatoes by hand to really rock-hard tomatoes that have to withstand being dumped into concrete bins.

"Those changes in the industry affected what's available," she says. "I found myself saying, 'I can't get that anymore.' That's when I got involved with the Seed Savers Exchange. (For example) people could only get three cucumber varieties. But to get others back, you had to save seed. It all ties together."

Varieties spice her life

With almost boundless energy, Ashworth is into everything. You name it, she probably grows it.

On her family's Peabody Ranch in West Sacramento, Ashworth organically farms at least 1,200 varieties of vegetables, herbs and fruit – not only for the produce but for the seed.

An ardent seed saver who practices what she teaches, Ashworth owns a vast collection that includes varieties rarely seen anywhere else.

But by preserving the past, she's securing the future.

"I'm not doing anything new," Ashworth explains. "Seed saving used to be something that everybody did. My grandfather did it."

Del Rio's major business is still seed, distributed through the Seed Savers Exchange. With extensive stock, the farm sells its unusual varieties worldwide. For example, Del Rio offers 43 types of heirloom cherry tomatoes.

Ashworth also tests seed for other growers, evaluating the hardiness of peppers or the purity of a squash strain.

Through her seed pursuit, she has become the go-to gourd lady. She sells seed for about 75 distinct gourd varieties, a favorite for crafters who create everything from ladles to birdhouses.

But selling rare seed doesn't necessarily save a species.

"We had to create demand," she says. "That's where the restaurants come in."

A showplace in her home

When the Ashworths moved into her family home a few years ago, Suzanne and her husband, Roger (a dentist in the farm community of Arbuckle), gutted the kitchen. An accomplished cook, she brought in restaurant-worthy appliances and created a showplace where she could entertain and educate food professionals. The adjacent dining room seats 20.

"We can get a restaurant's whole staff in here, so they can taste what we're talking about," she says.

Ashworth also developed innovative programs with local chefs. An example is "Adopt a Squash." Del Rio grows rare squash varieties, including some giants that date back to the Aztecs. A restaurant can adopt and feature a squash on its menu.

The first year, Del Rio sold about 1,000 pounds of adopted squash. The second year, that figure grew to 10,000.

Jim Mills, sales manager for Sacramento-based wholesaler Produce Express, stumbled on Del Rio by accident.

"I used to drive past here all the time," Mills said of the ranch on Old River Road on the west bank of the Sacramento River. "One day about eight years ago, her brother-in-law – who also has a farm out this way – told me, 'You should stop by Suzanne's place. She grows all sorts of goofy things.' "

Call The Bee's Debbie Arrington, (916) 321-1075.