AN UPBEAT Kilmany resident, Charlie Bye, visited the Gippsland Times offices last week to present an abnormally large tomato – it was bigger than his head.
And he offers one piece of advice if you want to take a picture of it.
“Make sure you take a picture of the good side because I don’t know if a bird or a rat or something has been in the other side,” he said.
Mr Bye’s journey to grow the tomato, which weighs nearly a kilo, began when he received seeds from his Rosedale friend, Mick Bolger, two years ago.
“He (Mick) gave me the seeds and I grew them, but so far, they’ve only been small ones,” he said.
“But they (friends) can’t believe the size of the tomato. It (the stalk) is sort of on my veranda, and I reckon it will hit the roof and block my view!”
This vegetable is of a ‘Beefstake’ tomato species and is advertised as weighing up to 450 grams; Mr Bye’s weighs 880 grams.
