The largest tomato in Maine and 10th largest in the world was harvested at a Walpole farm on Monday, Sept. 14, weighing in at 6.92 pounds.
Leon Busby first joined the competitive growing community four years ago, when his mother volunteered to grow a pumpkin for the Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta.
“I grew it and we had almost a 200-pound pumpkin just on the lawn,” Busby said.
Busby said he and his family enjoy growing the pumpkins and watching their sizes increase year by year. He enters his pumpkins in weigh-offs at fairs around the state.
To meet other growers, he joined the Maine Pumpkin Growers Organization, a competitive growing organization that sends out an annual packet of seeds to members. Two years ago, the seed packet included tomato seeds from Sarah Whitty, of Veazie, who runs the Maine Pumpkin Growers Organization and held the previous record for state tomato at 5.19 pounds. From those seeds, Busby said he grew a 3-pound tomato.
“I said, ‘Well, you know what? We’ll try it again next year,’” Busby said.
On June 28, Busby planted the seeds for a tomato of the Domingo variety, a “red flesh” tomato known for their size, according to Dave’s Seed Shop. Each day he fed the seeds a gallon of water and pollinated them in late July. He used organic fertilizer and no pesticides.
Early on, he noticed a mega blossom forming, he said. Approximately a week ago, he took it off the vine when it turned the right shade of red.
“I waited till the last minute I could,” Busby said. “After that rain we had last weekend I was like, ‘Yeah. It’s time.’”
Busby said at this point he felt a mixture of excitement and stress. He did not know what the tomato would weigh. He brought it to Main Street Grocery in Damariscotta, where employees served as impromptu impartial judges at the weighing.
It was then Busby saw the results: 6.92 pounds. His tomato is the heaviest in Maine according to the Maine Pumpkin Growers Organization and 10th largest in the world, according to rankings from the Great Pumpkin Commonwealth, a competitive growing organization.
“(It feels) unbelievable, really,” Busby said. “My goal was to break the record and I did it, so I’m happy no matter what.”
The seeds from Busby’s tomato will be added to the Maine Pumpkin Growers Organization seed packet sent out to members.
“What will be great is to see what comes out of this, because I guarantee there’ll be better growers than me that will get a chance to grow it,” Busby said.
Busby said he has stayed in competitive growing because of the people he meets, including other growers.
“Ninety-nine percent of the people I’ve met are nice and will indulge just about every bit of information there is,” Busby said. “If they can tell that you’re willing to put your efforts in, they’ll tell you little secrets here or there, because there really are no secrets.”
All competitive growers are striving to a common goal, Busby said.
“It’s about progressively making the sport better,” Busby said. “And more competition, the more people growing, the better off it is for everybody.”
Next year, Busby said his goal is to grow an 8-pound tomato. For now, he has 6.92 pounds of tomato to deal with.
“I might taste a little bit, try a bit of it,” Busby said. “Besides that, I might give some to somebody’s chickens. It’s an awful lot of tomato.”
For more information about the Maine Pumpkin Growers Organization, go to mainepumpkins.com, email sarah.whitty@yahoo.com, or find the organization on Facebook.