Award-Winning Tomatoes

You know bigger isn't always better, but at the State Fair, bigger is best.

From crowds to corn dogs, everything at the Minnesota State Fair seems super-sized, and nowhere is this affection for big more noticeable than at the Horticulture Building at the Largest Vegetable Competition. Each year overzealous gardeners bring their overgrown produce to be weighed, measured and judged. Host Rebecca Kolls checked out a competitive crop of tomatoes to learn what it takes to grow these juicy giants.

State Fair judges usually measure the widest part of the tomato and then measure width from the blossom and stem end. Judge Mary Convoy explained that in some years, the first place tomato has been determined by less than one-quarter of an inch. This year, however, the winner was obvious: Heidi Kassenborg was the honored owner of the victorious vegetable.

It was Heidi's first year growing the Supersteak tomato. A few years ago, Heidi discovered her passion for growing these portly plants and ever since, she and her husband Grant have surrendered their yard to the pursuit of the perfect produce. With three seasons under their belt, they have discovered a few tricks to help them grow king-size tomatoes.

Each year Heidi looks at different gardening magazines and does some research on which plants she'd like to grow. The growing season begins in March when Heidi orders large tomato seed packets off the internet. She says that genetics are very important when trying to grow larger tomatoes. The brands she has had the most success with include the Supersteak, Big Zac, Brandywine, and Johnny 361. She sends the seeds to her sister in Iowa, who grows them in a greenhouse until early April. This gives her a jumpstart on the growing season. This year their crop produced over 40 plants, which they squeezed into a tiny city lot. The raised beds they built allow for more plants per square foot. To help with watering, they installed a drip line irrigation system, bringing the water right next to the plant in a slow, controlled way.

To protect the plants during the early spring, Grant and Heidi create a simple outdoor greenhouse.
Heidi sticks several 9 gauge wire pieces, each about 65 inches long, in the ground about every three feet or so, forming a series of upside-down U-shaped supports. Then they cover the supports with clear plastic sheets. Each sheet is cut with ventilation strips so the plants don't cook on hot, sunny spring days.

Heidi also says pruning is very important. Pruning the leaves helps produce bigger tomato plants because the plant focuses on fruit rather than foliage. As the growing season gets closer to competition time, it's often difficult to choose which tomato will bring home the prize. But in the end, it was the Supersteak that was crowned the grand champion. What about the tomatoes left behind? Well, they're delicious consolation prizes for the growers.

As Heidi says, anything worth doing is worth overdoing!

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