Tomatoes, like the Italian tree and Belgian giant, often grow so fast they cannot support their own mass. Steel poles provide structural support for these large varieties of tomato. Gorman said that the decision to transition to steel poles was part of a learning process: “Last year what happened is that all the poles started to sag under the weight of the tomatoes, and it became sort of a problem trying to hold them all up.” “We have steel posts holding them up,” remarked Gorman, illustrating the farm’s Belgian giants’ sheer weight. They can, according to Gorman, grow up to 18 feet, given the right conditions. Yet these, of the Belgian giant variety, are impressive in their own right. There are other large, though not quite so enormous, tomatoes at the White Silo farm. The largest of these mammoth plants, of an heirloom beefsteak variety known as Italian tree tomato, stands between eight and 10 feet tall. “It’s become his passion,” said Gorman.Īnd it is this year’s harvest of tomatoes, many of them grown by Olsen and huge compared to the size of most conventional tomatoes, that have recently become a source of curiosity surrounding the farm.

Gorman remarked that his friend, Eric Olsen, a resident of New Milford, has become “obsessed” with growing tomatoes.

They’re so unusual… This year the tomatoes are absolutely incredible.” “I’ve been growing tomatoes for myself, for my family, for years… I have never seen tomatoes look like this, ever. “They are the most unusual tomatoes,” said Gorman in an interview. Gorman is also one of many to be stupefied by the sheer size of one crop growing this year at White Silo’s farm: tomatoes. The winery at White Silo is a successful local business, an outgrowth of a farm which produces a variety of fruits and vegetables-from blackberries and blueberries to asparagus and quinces-and is known for offering fruit and grape wines, as well as the tastings to be had and regular festivals held there.

SHERMAN – Ralph Gorman, of Sherman, has been the owner of the town’s White Silo Farm and Winery, set against the bucolic backdrop of hilly western Connecticut and located at 32 Rt.

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