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."
