Tomato plant the 'Shaq' of garden produce
Gardener credits farmer's tip for lush growth
By Tim Gallagher, Journal staff writer | Posted: Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Ramona Porter shows off a few of the tomatoes she's picked from her 11-foot-tall tomato plant at her home on Virginia Street in Sioux City. (Photo by Tim Gallagher)
SIOUX CITY -- Ramona Porter stepped back from her tomato plant and laughed.
"My landlord said he'll need a chainsaw to cut it down this fall," she said.
The plant she bought as a scrawny 10-inch seedling in April now towers over the grower. It stands 11 feet tall and half that wide. The $2 investment has helped feed Porter and her friends for weeks.
Her favorite dish? "I slice them up and eat 'em with salt and pepper," said Porter, a 68-year-old Sioux Cityan who has raised tomatoes for two decades.
She's never had one this prolific.
"I know bad news sells more papers, but we just had to call you," she said, offering me a ripe-and-ready red. (I ate it like an apple. Fantastic!)
"Every year I try to set one or two plants, but it's almost scary how big this thing has gotten. You can barely see the house from the porch," she added.
Porter wanted a bit of shade for the porch at her Virginia Street home. She planted this in hopes it might grow. Little did she know she'd have the Shaquille O'Neal of tomatoes!
A light dose of Miracle Grow helped it along. But not as much, Porter said, as the tip she gleaned from a farmer.
"And old farmer told me that a good rain was equal to 10 waterings," she said. "I heard that and decided to put a wastebasket under the drain. I catch the rainwater and give it to the plant."
The vines spun high and wide this summer and have since produced nearly four dozen tomatoes to satisfy Porter's appetite for this vine-ripened delicacy. She's made lots of BLTs. She's given dozens away and has frozen a few for her special spaghetti sauce.
"I've gotten at least 45 tomatoes off it so far, and it's still loaded with green tomatoes," she said.
&&&
Harvest Moon?
Ron Hook, farm management specialist for Iowa State University Extension, reported a light frost in Sibley, Iowa, on Monday. The frost was contained to rooftops. It wasn't a killing frost and surely was reason to exhale for farmers who believed the season's first severe frost would coincide with Monday's "Harvest Moon" (the full moon appearing closest to the Sept. 22 autumnal equinox).
Still, 'twas a reminder of what's coming.
I've been told that if frost doesn't accompany a September full moon, you won't have a killing freeze for another three weeks or so. Cross your fingers.
On a drive to Royal on Friday, I noticed that several soybean fields in Plymouth County and O'Brien County have turned yellow.
"The soybean fields yellowing are really close to maturity," said Joel DeJong, ISU Extension crops specialist. "If we get an early frost it won't cause damage to those fields. But there are so many others green and still growing."
Especially south of Sioux City, where fields around Whiting, for example, were replanted in mid- and late June.
The first killing freeze in Siouxland generally takes place between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2. Such a freeze occurs when the thermometer reads 28 degrees for at least four hours.
Grain growers cannot afford frost now as most corn is in the 28 percent to 30 percent moisture range. Ideally, farmers sell corn at 15 percent moisture. Corn plants across Siouxland, DeJong said, are two to three weeks from black-layering, or reaching physiological maturity.
Like I said, cross your fingers.
Video
See video of Ramona Porter discussing her gigantic tomato plant. Go to www.siouxcityjournal.com
"My landlord said he'll need a chainsaw to cut it down this fall," she said.
The plant she bought as a scrawny 10-inch seedling in April now towers over the grower. It stands 11 feet tall and half that wide. The $2 investment has helped feed Porter and her friends for weeks.
Her favorite dish? "I slice them up and eat 'em with salt and pepper," said Porter, a 68-year-old Sioux Cityan who has raised tomatoes for two decades.
She's never had one this prolific.
"I know bad news sells more papers, but we just had to call you," she said, offering me a ripe-and-ready red. (I ate it like an apple. Fantastic!)
"Every year I try to set one or two plants, but it's almost scary how big this thing has gotten. You can barely see the house from the porch," she added.
Porter wanted a bit of shade for the porch at her Virginia Street home. She planted this in hopes it might grow. Little did she know she'd have the Shaquille O'Neal of tomatoes!
A light dose of Miracle Grow helped it along. But not as much, Porter said, as the tip she gleaned from a farmer.
"And old farmer told me that a good rain was equal to 10 waterings," she said. "I heard that and decided to put a wastebasket under the drain. I catch the rainwater and give it to the plant."
The vines spun high and wide this summer and have since produced nearly four dozen tomatoes to satisfy Porter's appetite for this vine-ripened delicacy. She's made lots of BLTs. She's given dozens away and has frozen a few for her special spaghetti sauce.
"I've gotten at least 45 tomatoes off it so far, and it's still loaded with green tomatoes," she said.
&&&
Harvest Moon?
Ron Hook, farm management specialist for Iowa State University Extension, reported a light frost in Sibley, Iowa, on Monday. The frost was contained to rooftops. It wasn't a killing frost and surely was reason to exhale for farmers who believed the season's first severe frost would coincide with Monday's "Harvest Moon" (the full moon appearing closest to the Sept. 22 autumnal equinox).
Still, 'twas a reminder of what's coming.
I've been told that if frost doesn't accompany a September full moon, you won't have a killing freeze for another three weeks or so. Cross your fingers.
On a drive to Royal on Friday, I noticed that several soybean fields in Plymouth County and O'Brien County have turned yellow.
"The soybean fields yellowing are really close to maturity," said Joel DeJong, ISU Extension crops specialist. "If we get an early frost it won't cause damage to those fields. But there are so many others green and still growing."
Especially south of Sioux City, where fields around Whiting, for example, were replanted in mid- and late June.
The first killing freeze in Siouxland generally takes place between Sept. 30 and Oct. 2. Such a freeze occurs when the thermometer reads 28 degrees for at least four hours.
Grain growers cannot afford frost now as most corn is in the 28 percent to 30 percent moisture range. Ideally, farmers sell corn at 15 percent moisture. Corn plants across Siouxland, DeJong said, are two to three weeks from black-layering, or reaching physiological maturity.
Like I said, cross your fingers.
Video
See video of Ramona Porter discussing her gigantic tomato plant. Go to www.siouxcityjournal.com
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