Photo by Clarke Davis – Tom Rodgers stands among the newest crop of tomatoes now ready to market. He planted the seeds in early February.
by Clarke Davis
Tom Rodgers grew 180 tomato plants last year and harvested 5,500 pounds of tomatoes. This year he has 250 plants and because he started and nurtured them early some tomatoes were ripe on the Fourth of July.
Tom and his wife, Barb, live just north of Rock Creek and the tomato and sweet corn garden is in easy view off the east side of K-4 highway.
Marketing days at the home place are announced with a large sign and a tent. Tom normally sells produce in Meriden on Friday and at the Topeka Farmers Market on Saturday. Barb operates the home market on Saturdays.
What is less visible from the highway are all the other garden plots spaced out on the property growing just about everything one can imagine. There are green beans, onions, cucumbers, zucchini, strawberries, beets, radishes, asparagus, cauliflower, bell peppers, jalapenos, rhubarb, turnips, and — new this year — strips of pumpkins, watermelon, and cantaloupe.
An interesting plant is the okra. Tom said the plant has a small trunk and grows nearly twice his height. “I have to bend them down to pick the okra,” he said.
The couple moved to their current home from Topeka seven years ago. A place in the country was a long-held dream for the couple and when Tom spotted the place he suggested to Barb that it was time to move.
He’s a Concordia native and had a 35-year career with the Koss Construction Co., a builder of highways, before retiring a year ago. Barb, originally from Axtell, is still employed handling title work for Coldwell Banker Real Estate. The couple raised a son and daughter in Topeka and have seven grandchildren.
Tom’s interest in gardening began five years ago and became somewhat overwhelming.
“I was working upward of 65 hours a week for the company and still trying to expand this garden operation,” he said. The garden won out.
“It’s been very therapeutic,” he said. “I love the springtime and often go barefoot to feel the cool, soft dirt.”
The 60-year-old gardener said he has lost weight and never felt healthier. But garnering friends has been the most rewarding aspect of this new found endeavor.
His mentor has been Glen Herring, a neighbor and long-time gardener.
“I went over and introduced myself one day and offered to lend a hand if he needed,” Tom said. “We now work some long days together and I have learned a lot. He’s got it figured out.”
Herring has a 30-by-90-foot hoop house and the pair start their tomato crop from seed in early February and have 2- to 3-foot plants by early April.
This year Tom has a new trailer to market his produce. Mark Newlin, a metal fabricator and a former Concordia classmate, built the stand on a flatbed trailer Tom had.
Another crop is almost ready to peak and Tom, who is now working almost as many hours as he used to building highways, has apparently found his niche.
“I’m all in,” he said.