Woman continues yearly tradition of growing, selling tomatoes
GEORGES TWP. – Huge, leafy stalks, overflowing with plump, soon-to-turn red tomatoes, threatening to overwhelm the strategically positioned stakes placed to support the weight, will yield Thelma Guseman bushels and bushels of locally sought after fruit. At 86 years old, her hands wrinkled from age, Guseman still manages to plant, pick, weed and water her garden of delectable tomatoes by using a cane to navigate the amongst the huge plants.
“I staked them, but they’re clear to the top and running over,” said Guseman, laughing while she attempted to position the stake better. “I’m just so happy with the tomatoes.”
Her small garden attracts members of the visiting public who know Guseman for her homegrown treats. She sells tomatoes for $1 a bag to those who stop by her Shadyside Road home.
“They’re already asking, ‘Are the tomatoes ripe yet?'” Guseman said.
About 100 tomatoes, nine different varieties, grow on stalks planted in rows in Guseman’s small garden. Big Boys, Big Girls, Lemon Boys, Hillbillies and Ponderosa pinks are the different varieties.
Unable to decide which is the best, she said every variety is good.
Every year, her plants grow nearly as tall as her, and if the rain doesn’t cooperate two big barrels of water beyond the garden can be used to water them.
This year though, she hasn’t any need for the barrels, because, she said, her garden has received plenty of rain.
“We have gotten enough to wet them really good,” said Guseman. “We’ve had a lot of rain.”
She plants the tomatoes in late spring or early summer, and they ripen around this time every year. She said she has been growing in the side yard location for about three years.
In addition to the tomatoes, Guseman grew a row of green beans that her family has already picked and ate.
“They said, ‘Those were delicious,'” Guseman said, proudly.
The beans, hidden behind the towering tomato plants, are lined in one short row.
And passers-by, anxious for the homegrown treats, shouldn’t have much longer to wait.
“They ought to be getting ripe,” she said, leaning her weight against the walking stick for support. “They’re falling over.”