Tomato Challenge has us seeing red
More than 30 readers joined me in the Newsday auditorium Friday evening for the 2nd annual Garden Detective Great Long Island Tomato Challenge. Most of those with tomatoes arrived with their entries concealed in foil-covered plates or paper or plastic bags, presumably to psyche out the competition.
And what a fun competition it was. We shared tomato-growing tips, advice, laughs and even some tomatoes.
Returnees from last year included Ed Mitchell of Ronkonkoma, whose 1 lb., 1 oz. Beefsteak was a tad smaller than his 1 lb., 5 oz. entry last year. He also came with a plastic bag full of sweet grape tomatoes, which he shared generously. Janet Hart of Lindenhurst bettered her own score with a 1 pound Big Boy, up from a 14 ounces last year. And Patrick Castle of Deer Park, who made a nice showing in 2007 with a 2 lb., 7 oz. Porterhouse Beefsteak, entered a smaller, but still impressive, 1 lb., 12 oz. tomato of the same variety. Billy King of Mastic Beach, who ordinarily concentrates his green thumb efforts on growing giant pumpkins (and by "giant," I mean 800 pounds giant!) tried his hand at tomatoes for the first time this year. He arrived with his wife, Krista, toddler son, Billy, and a Big Zac weighing 2 lb., 3 oz.
Paul Nardone, who grows more than 250 tomato plants in his Massapequa garden each year but has yet to enter our contest, came simply to say hello and hang out with us. Oh, and he brought 2 giant bags of tomatoes to share. (I made a big pot of sauce with them and ladled it over fusilli on Sunday. Thanks!)
Barry Kaplan of Farmingdale, whose Big Zac weighed in at 1 lb., 7 oz., not only gifted me with his entry, he and his wife Anne also brought a teeny, tiny, tomato in a test tube, inspiring me to consider a smallest-tomato prize for next year's event.
Then there was Pat Mazzeo of St. James, whose Bull's Heart tomato weighed in at 2 lbs., 11 1/2 oz., Jack Schmitt of Sayville, who came to the podium with a 14.5 oz. beefsteak, Gary Schaffer of Lindenhurst, whose entry weighed 2 lb., 6 oz., and Harold Politano and his daughter Kim, of Deer Park, whose Burpee Supersteaks weighed 2 lbs., 9 oz., and 2 lbs., 1 oz., respectively.
But it was John Salvador from Port Jefferson Station who got the most attention. A 2-year veteran of the Tomato Challenge, Salvador's Bull's Heart tomato tipped the scales at 3 lbs., 1 oz., the only entry to cross the 3-pound mark this year. Last year, he came in second place with a 2 lb., 2 oz. fruit.
Salvador, who has 50 tomato plants growing on his 90 x 100 lot, also grows plenty of grapes, string beans, shell beans, lettuce, herbs, peppers and cucumbers -- more than enough to share with his neighbors.
When asked about his growing techniques, the 69-year-old retired construction worker said Bull's Heart tomatoes are hard to grow. "You have to take good care of them," he said. "I talk to them. I visit them in the morning to see if they need anything and then later in the afternoon I visit them again." But, aside from applying manure from a friend's horse, he doesn't have any growing secrets."Some years are just better than others," he maintains.
The seeds, like Salvador, originated in Portugal. He moved to the United States 44 years ago; the seeds traveled with a friend nearly 20 years ago, and Salvador has been growing tomatoes and saving seeds ever since. "They must be citizens by now," he quips.
