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Square tomatoes grown in North Carolina
United States
Saturday 01 September 2007
Walter Stuka, an 80-year-old farmer in North Carolina, has picked square tomatoes for the second time from his private garden. He got the idea last year from online news on television showing Japanese square watermelons, according to local press. He thought that if square watermelons fit more easily into refrigerators and were easier to slice, surely the same principle could apply to square tomatoes.
The procedure seems to be really simple: “When it gets to be a certain size, you just put this around it. When they grow, they just square up,” said Ralph Thompson, a friend of Stuka’s who made two plywood boxes for him. And it worked.
One box has a raised “W” carved on it, representing the first letter of his name, but it didn’t work too well in imprinting the initial on the tomato, said Stuka.
Walter Stuka has grown tomatoes since he was 10. “I usually plant about 100 (tomato plants), but this year, since I can’t get around too good, I just planted 30,” said the farmer.
The procedure seems to be really simple: “When it gets to be a certain size, you just put this around it. When they grow, they just square up,” said Ralph Thompson, a friend of Stuka’s who made two plywood boxes for him. And it worked.
One box has a raised “W” carved on it, representing the first letter of his name, but it didn’t work too well in imprinting the initial on the tomato, said Stuka.
Walter Stuka has grown tomatoes since he was 10. “I usually plant about 100 (tomato plants), but this year, since I can’t get around too good, I just planted 30,” said the farmer.
