Chapter 1

"So, I ordered a pack of tomato seeds from Burpee – no special variety. I put the seeds in anything I could find that would hold "dirt" (which I got from the brown spots on the lawn). There were no drainage holes in the pots, but they came up and promptly died. I wrote to Burpee and complained that the seeds were no good. They sent new ones, but the same thing happened. Boy, did I have a lot to learn. I was a very young girl at the time. It's a shame that young doesn't last very long."

"After I married, I still had a garden. It produced, but was just ok. One day an old timer passed by and saw my tomato plants and made fun of them. 'Ha, you call those tomatoes? You should see mine.' He was right, his were beautiful. Well, I got fired up by that, and decided I can grow better than that. So, I spent a lot of time in the library. One day I got curious about breeding, and the library sent to a university for a book on how to breed tomatoes. That was the start of BZ (Big Zac) and winning contests."

"I was experimenting with letting the plant get humongous before any fruit set, on the theory that if I had a big plant, it would support a big tomato. Thus, I watered and fertilized heavily.

"When the plant was 12 to 14 feet high, a storm blew it over onto the cantaloupes, and I wrote it off completely and left it to shade the cantaloupes.

"Then one day, while checking the melons, I noticed a single tomato had formed. A rather large one."

"I've had lots of fun at the airport, running it through their x-ray machine. They'll x-ray it, look at it, then x-ray it again."

"1. Start with seeds of a big-fruited variety. Gordon prefers Delicious, but you can also use Beefmaster, Big Zac, Whopper, Big Boy, Big Girl, or Incredibly Grotesquely Huge. (I made up that last one.)

"2. Enrich your soil by mixing in lots of compost, peat moss, and manure. Gordon swears by the manure he gets from a nearsighted pet rabbit named Hubble. (Still no word from NASA concerning Hubble's corrective lenses.)

"3. Start seeds in January or February. When plants are 3 to 4 inches tall, lay each pot on its side and weigh the vine down so it grows horizontally. When it's about a foot long, plant it outside in a trench so that only the top two sets of leaves show above ground. The plant will root all along the buried stem. Set out plants in early March. To protect them against frost, place an 11 inch diameter cage made of reinforcing wire around each plant. Then place a Wall O' Water (a water-filled, plastic teepee) around the plant inside the cage. This will keep your plant from freezing in temperatures as low as 10˚. When your plant outgrows the Wall O' Water, place a second one atop it, securing it with wire to the cage. Remove the Wall O' Waters after the last frost. You can order them from Gardener's Supply Company, (802) 863-1700.

"4. Feed your tomato plants every 7 to 10 days. Gordon uses 1 gallon of Miracle-Gro, mixed according to label directions, on each plant every time he waters.

"5. Don't prune the suckers. Let only one tomato form per plant. Then turn up your CB and pray."

1. Find the Right Variety for You! Experiment with several different large varieties every year and eventually you will find the specific giant tomato that is best suited for your particular garden environment. In addition to Delicious, Graham has also gotten really big fruits from Brandywine, Giant Belgium, German Johnson, and Abraham Lincoln. But, there may well be something special about the Delicious variety – it was also the winning ticket for Clarence Daily, who held the record before Graham.

2. Extend Your Growing Season! Start your seedlings early and plant them out early, but be sure to protect them from freezing temperatures with cloches, hotcaps, Walls O' Water, or your own homemade device. The more time a tomato can spend on the vine, the bigger it can grow. Graham's tomato plants typically approach 4 feet tall by May 1.

3. Let the Sunshine In! Plant in a location that receives full sun. If you can't, make sure they get at least 8 hours of direct sunlight.

4. Give 'Em Room! Spacing your tomato plants 2 feet apart isn't nearly good enough if you want giants! Plant 'em 4 feet apart, and even further is better.

5. Build a Better Soil! Keep your soil fluffy for easy breathing and moisture absorption, and make sure it is rich with organic matter. A pH of 6.0 to 6.5 is ideal.

6. Not Too Wet – Not Too Dry! Avoid excess watering and the resultant oxygen starvation of your plants. Feel the soil several inches below the surface before you reach for the hose. If it is dry there, then it is time to water.

7. Provide Good Nutrition! The primary source of nutrients for your tomatoes should be the soil itself. It should contain lots of organic matter ready to be turned into plant food by soil organisms. But, if the season turns out to be too cold, too hot, too wet, too dry, etc., your plants may benefit from some supplemental offerings to offset these uncontrollable factors. Fish emulsion and seaweed mixes are good overall organic plant foods that have tomato friendly reputations.

8. Offer Support! Large plants need to be supported with wire cages or stakes. Gordon prefers staking as it exposes more of the plants leaves to sunlight, and results in bigger fruit production.

9. Prune Well and Prune Wisely! If you want king-sized tomatoes, allow one main stem to develop and trim off all the suckers that appear on that stem. Then pinch off all but the biggest two or three tomatoes to direct all of the plant's energy toward your award winners."

"My tomatoes are sown by the end of February every year at a temperature of 55˚ to 65˚. I sow five or six seeds in a 6-1/2" pot in compost (2 parts loam, 1 part peat, 1 part sand). To each bushel I add 12 ounces of superphosphate and 1 ounce of nitro-chalk. Instead of this mixture, one can use 1-1/2 ounces of Phostrogen to each bushel of compost.

"As soon as the tomatoes show two true leaves and a good center, I pot them singly into 3-1/2" pots. The same compost will do, but keep them warm with plenty of light.

"For the final potting use 12" clay pots, and the compost should be 7 parts loam, 1 part peat, and 2 parts sand. The fertilizer should be: 2 parts hoof and horn, 1 part superphosphate, and 1 part sulphate of potash.

"Before the compost goes into clay pots, some broken pieces should be put in first to help with the drainage, then some straw, and finally the compost. Don't fill the pot right to the top, but leave about six to eight inches, because top dressing will be done later.

"Before planting the tomatoes, give each pot one teaspoonful of Epsom salt mixed into the compost. As soon as the plant is potted, water it with warm water so that the growth is not checked. Fertilizer will not be needed until the first truss has set and the temperature should be kept at approximately 45˚. As the plant grows, all side shoots should be removed. When the first truss has set, leave the plant for three weeks until the fruit can be seen quite clearly. Choose the best tomato and take the rest off, leaving only one fruit.

"Soon, the tomato plant will need to be layed down – grown horizontally so that the stem will root. Some of the compost used for potting can be employed, if there is any left after top dressing. This should be put on the ground so that the plant can be pegged down into it, but be careful not to break the plant. The stem should be covered with a mixture of 3 parts loam, 2 parts peat and 1 part sand.

"Soon, little roots will be seen, and feeding can start. The feed should be Phostrogen [14-10-27] or Phos Tro Tabs or both. One Phos Tro Tab [8-11-23] should be pushed under the stem of the tomato plant at six inch intervals once a month. Phostrogen can be given twice a week, watered into the plant pot.

"With this method I have grown one single tomato at 4-1/2 pounds. The variety was Beefsteak."

"Clarence Dailey, a retired carpenter in Monoma, Wisconsin, won a $250 seed company award for his 6-1/2 pounder, which sets a new world record. Dailey attributes his success to using, "Good natural hygienic fertilizer, right out of the barnyard." Mrs. Dailey said, "He means cow manure." He also piles leaves and grass around his plants, "Anything to build the ground up." He's been growing all kinds of vegetables for forty of the forty-three years he's been married. Dailey says he doesn't spray any chemicals on his garden, and has no problems with bugs, animals, or birds because of a few tricks he uses, like sprinkling crumpled johnnycakes (corn bread) around the garden. "The trick," Dailey says, "Is to bake hot chili pepper into the bread. Once birds taste the crumbs, they burn their tongues. It doesn't kill them but they never come back."

"The most important factor is to use the varieties of seeds that have the genetic capabilities to produce larger than average specimens. It's advisable to obtain some advice from a book or from other giant vegetable growers. If this does not help you, then it is best to try and have a go yourself as there is nothing wrong with trial and error. You must remember that when you make a mistake there is always next year to try again. The second most important thing you must have is the presence of "lady luck." If she is sitting on your shoulder watching over you, then you're half way there."