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LITTLE SILVER: SEEDS OF A TOMATO DYNASTY

083014 sickles tomato1083014 sickles tomato3For the third year in a row, Michael Mansfield of Oceanport won theĀ the biggest homegrown tomato contest at the annual Sickles Farm Market weigh-in on Saturday, with a 4-pound, 2-ounce giant.

This time, though, Mansfield was “tickled,” according to his wife, Linda, to finally meet 88-year-old Minnie Zaccaria, right, the Long Branch tomato breeder whose hybridized seeds Mansfield uses to grow his juicy monsters.

First prize was a $100 gift certificate to the Little Silver market. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)

 

 

 

LITTLE SILVER: WHATTA TOMATO

tomato 3 083113ls tomato 1 083113Betsy Bryan, above, of Rumson, registers her entry in theĀ annual Sickles Market biggest tomato contest in Little Silver on Saturday. For the second year in a row, the biggest-tomato contest was won by Mike Mansfield, in center of photo at right, who took home a $100 Sickles gift certificate. He attributed his success to Bumper Crop, an organic soil amendment. Below: the winning entry, at at 2.36 pounds, was considerably smaller than last year’s monster. (Photos by Sarah Klepner. Click to enlarge)

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