A tomato tradition ripe with promise
Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Updated Aug 04, 2011 17:39
Lititz
Carmen Braiotta of Lititz carries on his family's tomato tradition, from Calabria, Italy, to Lancaster County by way of New York City. More than four dozen tomato plants give him a harvest that Braiotta and his wife, Maria, turn into sauces, soup bases and salsas -- when they're not just enjoying them fresh-picked and warm from the sun.
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Carmen Braiotta (2)
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Tilly Schouten (2)
By SUSAN JURGELSKI
Staff Writer
In Carmen Braiotta's townhouse garden, the tomatoes are fruitful and multiply.
For the last eight years, Braiotta has transformed his modest Lititz backyard into a melting pot of fragrant herbs, flowers and hearty vegetables, but the main ingredient is the juicy fruit now in its prime.
Plump and dimpled, and blushing red against the garden montage, tomatoes are taking center stage.
The retiree grows them by the pot full.
Count 50 tomato plants of different varieties sitting pretty in above-ground planters and winding up wire trellises and stakes around his garden's edge. Through perimeter container gardening, Braiotta knows how to get maximum taste in a minimum space, which still allows for a fish-filled water garden and meandering paths.
Whether it's tomato fixation, or dedication, Braiotta is a gardener who likes to get fresh.
Tomatoes show him the way.
"When I was growing up (and) in the garden, you take a ripe tomato and wash her up with the hose and put some salt on it and eat it.
"That's as good as it gets. It sticks with you.
"You want to carry on the tradition."
Getting it growing
Braiotta, who comes from farming stock, emigrated from Calabria, Italy, as a child and entered through America's famous gateway, Ellis Island, with the sense that the door was always open for more citizens.
His garden gate, too, is always open - especially to tomatoes - even with limited accommodations.
"It sort of got away from me," he said of his crop with a sheepish laugh. "But there's gratification in seeing nature at its best."
Braiotta's wife, Maria, marvels at her husband's tomato-growing tenacity and ingenuity.
"I can't believe the yield he gets, and how he came up with such a unique way to grow these tomatoes," she said. "It really shows the level of love he has for gardening ... and for these tomatoes."
Despite an impressive harvest - well into thousands of tomatoes - Braiotta said he rarely wastes his crop. He cooks, he preserves and he shares with friends, relatives, including his two children who receive regular shipments, his neighbors and, really, anyone who asks.
Neighbor Tilly Schouten already has put in her order.
"His tomatoes are delicious and so big," said Schouten, who simmers them up in a homemade spaghetti sauce and has been a grateful recipient of the Braiotta tomatoes for the past four years. "It's amazing the way he does it."
The Braiottas also enjoy the rosy abundance. They transform tomatoes into soup bases, sauces, salsas, salads and recipe ingredients.
"We eat as many as we can so your mouth gets sore sometimes," Braiotta said.
As he considers the ripening potential of his production, the prospects leave Braiotta a bit breathless.
He's like a slot machine player waiting for the coins to fall.
And when they do, he hits pay dirt.
The lay of the land
Braiotta's no farmer, but his father was.
In Italy, Braiotta's dad farmed 18 acres with no machinery.
"It was like 'Little House on the Prairie,' " said Braiotta. "He did it all by hand."
After the Braiottas put down roots in New York, Braiotta senior started a landscape gardening business, and his son worked at his knee, cultivating knowledge and a strong work ethic.
The younger Braiotta continued to garden, but he also had his hand in several different businesses, including a lawn and garden shop, and he served a tour of duty in Vietnam.
But gardening, he said, isn't work. It's pleasure.
"When I was younger and put in long hours, it was therapy to come home and get dirty and work hard in the garden," Braiotta said. "You take a little seedling and what it does for you is just incredible."
Gardeners who see only the labor and none of the love won't be as successful, he said.
By all indications, Braiotta is the Bill Gates of plant enrichment.
"One thing that has always served me well is I think outside the box," Braiotta said.
He likes to try new things, and by trial and error, "get a little crazy," he said, to see what works and doesn't work.
One thing that has worked for Braiotta is potting his tomato plants and placing them strategically around his garden boundaries.
Container gardening makes it easier for him to perfect the soil - he relies mostly on organic materials and eschews pesticides - and to conserve space.
"If you tried to put this many plants in the yard, you wouldn't be able to get in here," Braiotta said. "Basically I haven't used much yard space because it's all on the perimeter."
Potting tomatoes may not necessarily be the least costly option, he said, and it does take time. He buys pots at yard sales and purchases rolls of wire fencing for trellises.
But it's all worth it for Braiotta who relishes the effort as much as the results, and he continues to look forward to nurturing new growth.
In fact, there is a new sprout on the horizon.
"We're so excited," he said. "(My wife) and I are soon going to be grandparents."
Perimeter container gardening: A how-to
• Prepare the area and containers for the soil mixture approximately four weeks before placing plants in the containers.
• Pick a sunny location (at least six hours of direct sun per day) where the plants will be undisturbed. Eight or more hours of sun will produce the best results in terms of yield.
• Use round or square containers that are 14 to 17 inches in diameter. Cut off the bottom of the pot.
• Sink the containers approximately 3 to 4 inches into the ground and approximately 3 to 4 inches apart.
• Fill the containers with a soil mixture of approximately 2/3 flower and vegetable soil, 1/3 organic garden soil and about two handfuls of peat moss. Amend the soil further with garden lime, potash triple or super phosphate and bone meal as directed on the products' containers.
• Plant the vegetables in the prepared containers (for tomatoes, remove the first set of leaves at the bottom of the stem and plant the stem at a depth below where the first set of leaves had been). Plant other vegetables at the depth instructed on the plant's label.
• Place mulch around the base of the container, but do not place mulch in pots as it can cause the soil to retain too much water and cause the plant to rot.
To achieve optimum results:
• Keep pots moist, but do not overwater. Overwatering can cause blossom end rot. It is best to purchase a water meter, which usually comes with information as to what meter reading is applicable for each type of plant.
• Tie plants to a stake or trellis with stretch ties, not string. The stretch ties come on a roll and will not injure the stem of the plants.
(Braiotta makes his trellises with two fence posts for each pot and a piece of light fencing attached to the fence posts.)
• During the growing season, feed plants every seven to 14 days.
• Do not use pesticides. If you are bothered with white flies or aphids, use insecticide soap.
• Never spray any product on plants during the heat of the day.
• Likewise, water plants in early morning or late afternoon so the water evaporates. Disease and/or fungus can develop on wet plants at night.
• After the first year's harvest is finished, remove dead plant material and any trellises or stakes to use for the next planting season.
• In the next season, add additional soil mixture and amendments as necessary to replace any lost with the removal of the old plant.
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