Garden Detective

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I just returned from hosting The Great Long Island Tomato Challenge Weigh-Off here at Newsday's headquarters in Melville.

Back in June, I ran a column about a man named Matthew Barcia, who believed he would grow the biggest tomato on Long Island. He had educated himself about special techniques and researched new varieties and soil amendments. While Barcia certainly knew his way around a tomato, I knew there must be others like him. So I challenged my readers to join the race for the heaviest tomato.

All summer long, I've been on the lookout for the biggest and the baddest fruit, traipsing around the Island like an obstetrician on call, scale in tow. Contestants called at all hours, panic in their voices, crying, "You have to come NOW! My tomato is ready to be picked!"

When it became apparent there were more tomatoes on Long Island than hours in a day, I decided it would make more sense for them to come to me. And Newsday readers did not disappoint.

Gardeners came from all over Long Island -- tomatoes in tow -- to share ideas, talk about their favorite varieties and, most importantly, have their tomatoes weighed.

Guy Macchia, from Middle Island, who grows tomatoes in a 5-inch-wide strip of earth separating his condo unit from the one next door, entered a 13 ounce Beefsteak. Peter Lofrano of Shirley brought a 15 ounce beauty, while Michael Vecchio, of Old Westbury, entered an impressive Beefsteak that weighed in at 1 pound, 15 ounces. From Port Jefferson Station, John Salvador's Bull's Heart weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces, and Ed Mitchell of Ronkonkoma showed off his 1 pound, 5 ounce Beefsteak.

And there were others: Janet Hart of Lindenhurst had a 14 ounce Big Boy. John Brady's young grandson Mikey, from Levittown, brought his grandfather's yummy looking 6 ounce piece of perfection, and Patrick Castle traveled from Deer Park with his 2 pound, 7 ounce Porterhouse Beefsteak.

Others came without tomatoes, just to share ideas with like-minded growers and to get an eyeful of the winning entry.

And what an eyeful it was! Vincenzo Domingo's "Ugly" tomato struck fear in the hearts of everyone in the room. Ooos and ahhs erupted as Domingo approached the podium -- seemingly in slow motion -- to set his tomato upon the scale.

I first learned of Domingo's green thumb when I received an email from his daughter, Lucy Scheck, earlier this summer. She wrote:

I would like to enter my father as a competitor to challenge Matthew Barcia. His name is Vincenzo Domingo. He is 78 years old, lives in Deer Park, and he does not own a computer; that is why I am sending this for him. He was born in Sicily and came to this country when he was in his early twenties. Since he's been in this country, he has grown all types of tomatoes, along with various vegetables, fruits, etc. As of last year, his largest beefsteak tomato was 3 1/4 pounds; his largest banana tomato was 1 pound. When necessary, the only chemical he uses is sulphur. He does not use wire cages. He ties his tomato plants the old fashioned way -- with sticks and twine.

My father has always been proud of his garden and I would like to see him "Challenge the Expert".

I visited with Domingo, who just turned 79, at his Deer Park home earlier this week, and that Ugly tomato was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Misshapen and malformed, like a real tomato should be, it was grown from seeds sent to Domingo by his brother in Sicily.

Its weight? Three pounds, 14 ounces. I've heard of premature babies smaller than that! It was larger than a human head. Domingo brought that tomato and a few others to the Weigh-Off Friday night and was crowned winner on the spot.

Matthew Barcia did well for himself, too. While not a frontrunner -- his Belgian Giant weighed in at 1 pound, 9 ounces -- it was his story that started it all.

So, Long Island tomato growers, you'd better get working on a strategy now, because we're going to do this all again next year. And something tells me Domingo will give you another run for your money.

CLICK TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT

Larry Goldstein of Plainview is enjoying one heck of a harvest this year. The retired high school shop teacher, who built most of the furniture in the house he shares with his wife, Sandy, also constructed quite an impressive vegetable garden.

He's growing Mortgage Lifters, Delicious, Bloody Butchers, various Beefsteak varieties, Cherries and Camparis -- a total of 48 plants -- in soil treated only with composted manure. Goldstein starts all his plants from seed and swears by the red plastic mulch he orders online, as it keeps the weeds out and roots warm.

When I visited with Goldstein last week, he picked the largest fruit in his tomato patch -- a Bloody Butcher weighing in at 1 lb., 12 oz.

"I don't prune, pinch off or do anything to my plants -- They do just fine without me interfering with them," he said when asked about his methods, adding, "It works for me."

After our visit, Goldstein sent me on my way with a care package containing my very own Bloody Butcher. It works for me, too.

When Lucy Scheck emailed me earlier this summer, she said her father grows big tomatoes. I had received 75 emails just like it from gardeners across Long Island, so while I was impressed, I had no reason to believe his tomatoes were any different.

Scheck's father, Vincenzo Domingo, 78, lives in Deer Park with his wife, Rosa. "He does not own a computer," Scheck explained. "That is why I am sending this for him."

"He was born in Sicily and came to this country when he was in his early twenties," she wrote. "Since he's been in this country, he has grown all types of tomatoes, along with various vegetables and fruits. My father has always been proud of his garden. Last year, his largest beefsteak tomato was 3 1/4 pounds."

Come again? Rewind, please...

"Last year, his largest beefsteak tomato was 3 1/4 pounds."

THAT got my attention. What does a man who can grow a 3 1/4 tomato do to his soil? What's his secret?

The only treatment he uses is sulphur, Scheck said. And he only applies it when he feels it's necessary. Domingo doesn't use wire cages for support, either. Instead, he ties his tomato plants the old fashioned way -- with sticks and twine.

I'm running out to meet Domingo in person and see if his green thumb has produced an attention-getting tomato this year. Can lightning strike twice?

I'll let you know what I discover.

Paul Nardone, left, grows 254 tomato plants in his Massapequa garden, while Guy Macchia, right, makes do with a 5-inch-wide "strip of dirt."

Does (plot) size really matter?

Paul Nardone of Massapequa is growing 254 tomato plants in 7 beds totaling about 850 square feet. He grows enough fruit to keep all his neighbors and friends in tomatoes throughout the season. And every week, he sends care packages containing Big Boys, Porterhouse Beefsteaks, Roma plums and cherry tomatoes to relatives in New Jersey, the Bronx, Mahopac, Brooklyn and Oceanside via U.P.S. He even sent a case to a certain garden columnist, who shall remain nameless. "My garden is a sea of red with all the tomatoes that I have to pick every day," he says.

Where there's a will, there's a tomato

Meanwhile, all Guy Macchia has is a "strip of dirt" separating his Middle Island condo unit from the one next door. His garden is 18 feet long but only 5 inches wide. No matter, according to Macchia, who makes do very nicely but not without some innovation. "I have to angle the plants because I can't plant them straight down" he says, explaining that a fence dissects his five-inch-wide plot.

Since there's no room for tomato cages, Macchia fashions stakes from wood sticks inserted in cement-filled buckets, above. He sets each contraption up against a plant and fastens them together. He also ties some plants directly to the fence.

I've never encountered such inventiveness in a vegetable garden! My hat's off to him for his sheer determination and creativity.

No doubt, Nardone, whose garden is pictured below, will have a bigger output. But who will grow the bigger tomato? Your guess is as good as any. I'll report developments as they ripen.

Photo by Larry Goldstein

Thank you all for responding with interest to my call for gardeners across Long Island to join the Great Long Island Tomato Challenge. What a wonderful success it has been so far, with readers from the Queens line to Riverhead and beyond enjoying the competition. I have read each of your emails, many of which were touching, some funny, and certainly all of them intriguing. I would like to give all of you the opportunity to participate in the competition and share in the fun.

If you can't bring the Garden Detective to the tomatoes, bring the tomatoes to the Garden Detective

Please bring your largest, heaviest tomato to Newsday's Melville offices on Friday, August 31 at 7 p.m. I'll be on hand to weigh each fruit personally in my quest to find Long Island's most impressive tomato. Photographers will be on hand, and light refreshments will be served.

Winner gets a handshake, my admiration and their story and picture in an upcoming issue of Newsday.

Please RSVPto let me know you're coming so that I can prepare accordingly. I look forward to meeting you!

Newsday's offices are located at 235 Pinelawn Road in Melville. Look for the red balloons!

From the west:

Take the LIE to exit 49S (RT-110 S/Amityville)
Merge onto S Service Rd and proceed to Pinelawn Road
Turn right on Pinelawn Rd (CR-3 S)
Newsday is approximately 1.2 miles down on the right, past the Eastern Athletic Club fitness center

From the east:

Long Island Expressway to Exit 49S
Merge onto N Service Rd.
Turn left at Pinelawn Rd.
Newsday is approximately 1.3 miles down on the right, past the Eastern Athletic Club fitness center

I'll be making an encore appearance on World Talk Radio's Arbor Talk show today at 1:25 p.m. Tune in and listen as I talk tomatoes with hosts Peter Felix and Ken Six.

Listen online

Miss it? Now worries, you can listen to the show on the Arbor Talk archives. Check out segment 2 and 3 from today's broadcast.

Did you grow a whopper of a tomato? I'll be wrapping up the Great Long Island Tomato Challenge at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 31, with the Great Weigh-In event at Newsday's Melville headquarters. Bring your biggest tomato and details about your growing methods. Winner gets to be featured in a future Newsday article.

RSVP

Today's lesson: Don't count your tomatoes before they develop

Karen Vati's Massapequa Park tomato garden is the most orderly and tidy vegetable patch I've ever seen, hands down. Tomato plants stand like soldiers at boot camp, neatly tied to perfectly erect homemade bamboo teepees in raised beds.

Vati purchased her plants this spring at N&V Garden Center in North Massapequa, just like she always does. She was counting on her Beefsteak tomatoes, which had been huge in years past, to make her a winner.

But then something unusual happened. As Vati and her family watched the fruit develop, they had the sinking feeling something wasn't right. These weren't the humongous Beefsteaks the Vatis had grown accustomed to. These were perfectly round and smooth, quite unlike the ribbed, sometimes oddly shaped fruits of seasons gone by. "They look like Hothouse tomatoes," Vati's sharp-eyed daughter, Marisa, 18, observed. "Maybe the plant tags got mixed-up," Vati suggested.

I visited the Vatis yesterday for an official weighing of their largest tomato.
My findings? A nice-sized fruit of 1 pound, 2 ounces. While not necessarily noteworthy for a Beefsteak, it certainly would be impressive for a Hothouse. Maybe even a record-breaker.

Garden Detective is up for a Best Hobby Blog Blogger's Choice Award. Have you voted? You'll get good karma if you take a minute to CLICK HERE and help send me to Vegas, where I hear they have machines with little cherry tomatoes on them.

I took a couple of field trips this week, making house calls to Matthew Ippolito's garden in Selden (left, top) and to Uresh Sheth's place in Syosset (left, bottom).

Armed with my humble SONY 2.0 Cyber-shot camera and a $9.99 scale I purchased at Bed, Bath & Beyond en route to Ippolito's house on Friday, I visited, weighed and recorded my findings. And what I found was pretty impressive, indeed.

Ippolito's Mortgage Lifter plant, pictured below, sported two plump beauties ripe for the picking. The larger one, which he is seen picking above, weighed in at 1 pound, 13 ounces. (Full disclosure: He graciously shared the non-contender with me, which my daughter Julia and I enjoyed with a salt shaker a few days later. My impartiality, however, remains unshaken, as is evidenced by the next sentence.)

Sheth edged him out with his 1 pound, 15 ounce Burpee Beefsteak, which he picked in my presence on Monday.

Others are lining up to be weighed, and contestants are calling and sending frantic emails at all hours beckoning, "My tomato is ripe and needs to be picked! Please come quick!"

Luckily, tomatoes are best picked a couple of days after reaching full ripeness, so there's no cause for panic.

Results will be tallied and posted here over the next few weeks, so stay tuned! AND, don't forget to vote for Garden Detective in the race for Best Hobby Blog by clicking the icon at left.

I'll be the featured segment guest on World Talk Radio's Arbor Talk show today at 1:50 p.m. Tune in and listen to me talk tomatoes. Hosts Peter Felix and Ken Six are always good for a laugh while sharing their arboriculture expertise and answering callers' questions about tree care.

And -- whatever you do -- DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

UPDATE: Already in the lead, Uresh has come forward with a 2 lb., 2 oz. Burpee Porterhouse.

Uresh Sheth of Syosset is a relative newcomer to the vegetable-growing community, having grown tomatoes and other crops for only one season prior to this summer. Call it beginner's luck if you will, but the man's plants are seven feet tall -- and "so heavy with fruit that the plants tipped over onto the asparagus plants despite being staked!" he boasts.

He's growing 20 tomato plants in his Syosset garden. Varieties include Porterhosue, Supersteak, Belgian Giant and Fresh Salsa, which he purchased from the Burpee website, and San Marzano, Mortgage Lifter and German Pink, which he bought at Hicks Nurseries in Westbury.

"I went a little nuts this year," says Sheth, 40, adding, "I think next year I'm going to scale it back to about 10 plants."

Recipe for success

Before planting in mid-May, Sheth, a busy father of two who works as a bond structurer for a broker dealer in Connecticut, tilled in a generous helping of bone meal and tomato plant food he ordered from the Garden's Alive! website. He tossed in a couple of bags of compost from Hicks for good measure. "I've been spraying the plants with liquid fertilizers as well as applying natural insecticides and fungicides, which I also got from Garden's Alive.com."

His diligence is beginning to pay off. "I'm just starting to get a few medium-sized tomatoes that have ripened," he says, "and I expect the coming weeks to bring a huge haul!"

"My garden is my therapy, relaxation, and pride and joy," says Karen Vati, 49, of Massapequa Park. "This year I am growing 12 Beefsteak, 1 cherry and 2 Campari plants that we've started from those little tomatoes in the grocery store as an experiment."

Vati, a design consultant with Drexel Heritage, grows her crop in 10 raised beds lined with 12 x 12 pavers "to keep the weeds out." She removes the bottom leaves on the plants and keeps them upright with bamboo "teepees" made from bamboo grown by her husband,Tom. "Forget cages!" she says, asserting that her homemade contraptions work better.

Every two weeks, the mother of two -- Marisa, 18, and Michael, 15 -- gives her plants a shot of Miracle-Gro, and so far, she says, "the crop looks to be outstanding."

Matthew Ippolito from Selden believes he has a shot at growing Long Island's biggest tomato. His 15 x 20 foot garden has yielded two-pounders in the past but he's banking on Burpee's Porterhouse hybrid tomato this year, hoping for a four-pound whopper.

He's also growing Mortgage Lifter, Black Brandywine and Cherokee purple varieties, but he says the Porterhouse is his "strongest competitor."

"I picked up the hobby from my grandfather," said Ippolito, 36, a human resources assistant with the I.R.S., who is growing plants in the same plot his grandfather nurtured years ago. "Nothing too fancy in the dirt," he said, when asked about his methods. "Just lots of sun and water. And I put down some Garden-Tone about once a month."

ARE YOU IN?

Think you'll grow Long Island's biggest tomato this year? Tell me your story, your plan and your secret. Drop me a line at jessica.damiano@newsday.com. Be sure to include your name, town, phone number and tomato plant details. You must be willing to be photographed and be available for periodic visits. If you have photos of yourself in your garden, send them too. No experience is necessary. The winner will be announced at the end of the season.

Progress will be followed right here, on the Garden Detective blog.

Meet Contestant #2

Larry Goldstein, 75, of Plainview is our second contestant, challenging Matthew Barcia of West Hempstead in the quest for Long Island's biggest tomato. This year, he planted 48 seedlings, which he grew indoors from seeds. Some of those seeds were hand-scraped from store-bought Campari tomaotes.

Goldstein fortifies his plants only with composted manure and covers the bed with red plastic mulch from the Gardens Alive! Catalog. He says he never has the need for fertilizers or pesticides.

Over the winter, Goldstein started 72 plants in a seed tray on a windowsill in his home. He placed ordinary heating pads on a timer under the tray. "I know you're supposed to, but I can't bear to pick out and kill the little extras so I transplant the doubles into the garden," he said. "If they're weak looking, I take them out, but if they're healthy looking I keep them. They work."

Goldstein has been growing tomatoes for nearly 40 years. "My father was born on a farm, so I guess it's in the genes," he said, adding that he recently discovered the red sheet plastic that covers his tomato beds. Trying to save money a few years back, Goldstein tried using red plastic tablecloths instead. "They didn't work. By the end of the season they were all faded and ripped," he said. So he began using the Gardens Alive! product. He even left the cover in the garden over the winter. "This year, when I took the plastic off the tomato areas, there were no weeds underneath, so all I did was take my little power cultivator and plowed up three strips where the tomatoes are going to be. I rototilled the strips with composted manure."

And therein lies his secret.

ARE YOU IN?

Think you'll grow Long Island's biggest tomato this year? Tell me your story, your plan and your secret. Drop me a line at jessica.damiano@newsday.com. Be sure to include your name, town, phone number and tomato plant details. You must be willing to be photographed and be available for periodic visits. If you have photos of yourself in your garden, send them too. No experience is necessary. The winner will be announced at the end of the season.

Progress will be followed right here, on the Garden Detective blog.

The Great Long Island Tomato Challenge is heating up, so here's a little comic relief. I'm sure all you serious tomato growers can relate.

Some people are really protective of their tomatoes. I spoke with Vivian Sesto of Lindenhurst about the great tomato caper that played out in her backyard last summer:

"My husband, Greg, and his 80-year-old father are Italian, and are obsessed with growing tomatoes. They have a big garden, but they'll stick extra plants anywhere there's a spot, even between my pom pon bushes."

Greg is so well known for his bountiful crop that neighbors "beg him for tomatoes, but he won't give them out."

One night in August, Sesto overhead Greg and his father having a "very serious conversation" in the backyard. "We'll pick that one tomorrow," they schemed, pointing to "a giant, deformed" specimen that they'd been eyeing for days. Sesto evesdropped as they strategized about how best to use their precious fruit: "We'll make half into salad, use part for burgers," they whispered giddily.

"I just don't understand how they take it so seriously," Sesto shrugged, continuing: "The next day Greg goes out, and in a minute he comes flying back into the house, screaming, 'Where's my tomato?'"

"There were about 300 tomatoes in the yard at the time, so I didn't think it was a big deal, but Greg was livid. He was pacing in the yard. Then he called my neighbor, who has been known to come into the yard and help himself. But he swore he had nothing to do with it."

Trying to quiet her husband, Sesto told him it would be best to calm down. "Let's think," she said. "The only people in the yard were the landscaping crew, whom we've had for 15 years."

Demanding justice, Greg called the landscaper. "I wouldn't care if they stole my Jet Ski, but I want my tomato back!" he shouted into the phone.

The landscaper hunted down his employees, who were on a lunch break, and then reported back: "There are several small tomatoes on their dashboard," he said sheepishly. "My crew has tomato seeds in their teeth, but 'the big one' is no where to be found."

"That crew wouldn't come back for weeks," Sesto said, laughing. And when they did, "Greg wouldn't even look at them."

Meet our first contestant

Matthew Barcia of West Hempstead claims he has the secret to building a better tomato. Having grown the fruit in his backyard gardens for more than 20 years, Barcia believes he has perfected the process. I'm going to grow the biggest tomato on Long Island this summer," he says confidently.

"I've gotten insight on a tomato called a Belgian tomato. After talking to many different people, I learned there's no specific secret, but there are many many different techniques that could be used," says Barcia, 48, a case worker in foster care for the Department of Social Services in Nassau County.

One of those techniques is the "V" technique, he says. "Old-time Italians from the other side claim you should make a V out of the plant by pruning into a V shape so you have two stalks going up in a V formation. My father grew tomatoes that way, but I've learned it's not necessarily the best way to get the biggest tomato."

So what is? "Strong roots. I was informed recently that when you pruchase a plant, make sure you bury the plant to develop a strong root system, use a good top soil and plenty of water on a daily basis," he says. "Also use a solution of sulphur and nitrate -- I'm using a Miracle-Gro solution."

Barcia has planted 3 Belgian Giant plants, purchased at Hicks Nurseries in Westbury, and 20 Super Hybrid beefsteaks purchased at Garden World in Franklin Square and at an Ace Hardware store in Pennsylvania. Each plant is surrounded by either a 42-inch or a 54-inch wire cage, and they're planted about two feet apart. "I'm being very particular this year about making sure it's completely weed free so the plants can absorb as much water and nutrients as possible."

And now he waits for what he's certain will be a whopper.

Barcia, a single father raising three children alone, has passed along his love of gardening to his children, Jaclyn, 12, Julie, 13, and Kristin, 16. "They enjoy it tremendously," he says. "I taught them everything I know about watering the right way so you don't knock off the flowers, and keeping the garden weed free. They're all very motivated about working in the garden and helping out."

With the whole family involved, Barcia is sure he'll produce a killer of a tomato. And he believes some newly acquired sunlight will increase his odds. "My neighbor just removed a very large maple tree that was shading my yard, so for the first time in 20 years I believe I have not only the right technique and the right plant, but as much sun as possible."

TIPS FOR HEALTHY TOMATO PLANTS

The key to growing good tomatoes is planting them in warm soil, removing the lower leaves and burying them very deeply (don't worry, they'll grow roots along their stems,) regularly pinching off small stems that grow in the joints between branches, and making sure they get plenty of sunlight and regular watering. Irregular watering leads to blossom end rot, a disease caused by a calcium deficiency. Tomatoes need calcium, so some people add crushed egg shells to the soil for this purpose. Others bury a whole uncooked egg under the plant, while some water their plants with water in which they're boiled eggs. Dolomite is a good soil amendment.

ARE YOU IN?

Matthew Barcia believes he'll grow the biggest and best tomato on Long Island this year. Will he -- or will yours be bigger? I'm challenging my tomato-growing readers to join the quest for the biggest tomato.

To be considered as a contestant, you must be willing to be photographed and be available for periodic weigh-ins. No experience is necessary. The winner will be announced at the end of the season.

Tell me your story, your plan and your secret. Send an email to jessica.damiano@newsday.com. Be sure to include your name, town, tomato growing details and contact information. If you have photos of yourself in your garden, send them too.

Progress will be followed right here, on the Garden Detective blog.

I just went out into the yard to take some pictures because I knew you wouldn't believe me without them.

I started my vegetable seeds indoors in February. Here's what my Burpee Porterhouse tomato plants looked like in March.

Unfortunately, I neglected to take more pictures when I transplanted them in late May. By then, the particular plants in this experiment were about 7 inches tall apiece. I took great care in selecting plants that were similar in size and health, and that had not been subjected to any of my earlier experiments (Worm Poop, et al.)

I planted two of them in an EarthBox, which I keep on the deck, and the others in my usual vegetable bed. Both spots have a southern exposure and get plenty of sunlight.

Here are the photos I took today, a month after transplanting:

The photo on the left shows one of the tomato plants in my garden bed. It's nine inches tall today. Very Charlie Brown Christmas Tree-like, wouldn't you say? The photo on the right is of the two plants in the EarthBox. Each is about 28 inches tall and 25 inches wide.

I'm just saying.

Who will grow Long Island's biggest tomato this year?

Will it be me, with my beast of an EarthBox? Or might it be you? If you'd like to be a contestant, send me your story, your plan and your secret.