You’d need to like people to have Laura Nichols’ summer job. This week there were cars stopping at her front yard every few minutes. Drivers on Hegan Lane take a quick right onto Bruce Lane when they read the bright red letters advertising “Tomatoes, $1 a pound.”
Her shaded, roadside stand is filled with boxes of sunny red fruit, as well as other edibles, including butternut squash and zucchini.
She’s accustomed to a lot of business at the height of produce production. But this week was especially hectic with people traveling to get their fill of the U-pick peaches at the University Farm down the way.
“I can’t keep the tomatoes on the stand,” she said. Maybe part of the allure is that she likes when people snack on cherry tomatoes while they shop for bigger fruit.
If she runs out of tomatoes out front, people are encouraged to wander to their left and pick tomatoes from some of the nearly 500 plants around two sides of her home.
The ginormous undertaking began in 1998 when she put in about 75 plants. She pitched out a sign and the buyers arrived. The next year, she realized she could sell more. With the help of her dad, Bob, the number of rows continued to grow.
“He’s my silent, boisterous partner,” she joked.
Buyers are enthusiastic, and when the red ones are picked clean, people often pick green — for fried green tomatoes and chutney.
She and her dad order seeds from a seed catalog, which you’d really need to do with this type of volume.
Laura Nich
During the season, things are busy. She picks in the morning and again in the evening, often with her watchdog following her through the rows.
She knows her regular customers who come once a week or more. Other folks will buy a boat-load for canning.
“I’ve met the most awesome people,” she said. “One little old guy came by and would bring me samples of what he got out of his garden.
“The older crowd is so much fun. We just talk about tomatoes of years gone past.”
Her location is in the middle of prime farmland, and the first few years everything grew like magic. Then there were some plant problems and she and her dad started adding calcium and rich compost they buy by the truckload.
With all that good stuff going on, she hasn’t found a need to spray with chemicals.
When it comes to soil, “I’ve got the cream of the crop,” he boasted.
She said she sees almost zero hornworms, probably because they rototill.
Over time, they’ve learned to water just right, because too much water will cause the fruit to split.
Growing and selling the tomatoes is really just a summer hobby. She’s able to use the sales to pay for a vacation once a year. Her dad’s a sailor, and Laura loves the wind as well.
If you visit, be nice and follow the signs, rather than wandering into her private yard.
To get there, travel south on Park Avenue, and continue just a bit onto the Midway. Take a right on Hegan Lane, then watch for the tomato sign on the left. Her home is part-way down Bruce Lane on the right.
If you travel a short distance farther on Hegan Lane, past the railroad tracks, you’ll see a sign for pluots, which are grown by another resident in the area.
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Laura Nichols sells tomatoes for $1 a pound off Bruce Lane, which is off Hegan Lane. She and her dad Bob grow about 479 tomato plants.
