A Garden for Dad
By Diana Cercone
Had Peter Rabbit known about Vincent Gisoldi and his son’s garden, he never would have given Mr. McGregor’s vegetable patch another thought. By last estimation, the father and son garden stretches over a third of an acre and growing with each passing year. An epicurean’s paradise, brimming with cabbages, peppers, basil, eggplants, squash blossoms and tomatoes. Did I say tomatoes? The Gisoldis grow 28 varieties, including several types of heirlooms.
I caught up with Vincent, Jr., better known as Vince, after he had returned from tending their garden at their home in Furlong. When I called, he was just beginning to repot their eggplant and pepper plants. The eggplant plants, he said, had grown in height to about seven inches and the peppers to about five. “You don’t want them to get root-bound,” he says. “So you repot. Trim the leaves of the pepper plants. They’ll send out new shoots and produce two times as much.”
Vegetable gardening seems to run naturally in his family, he says. His father’s father emigrated in 1921 from Benevento, Italy, and settled in Summit, NJ, where he raised award-winning orchids, as well as tended the family’s vegetable garden. (Benevento is in the Campania region, and like most of southern Italy, known for its variety of vegetables, especially tomatoes and peppers, as well as its pizza, pasta and wine.
Though born in Summit, Vince grew up in Furlong when his father, who worked for the Prudential Insurance Company, was transferred to Bucks County in 1970. Vince says he can’t remember when he wasn’t gardening with his Dad in the backyard of their home. “At age five, I had my own garden next to my father’s,” he says. “There was a sign in front of each of our gardens which read: ‘Big Vinnie’s’ and ‘Little Vinnie’s.’ “The signs stayed until I grew taller than my Dad.”
Now at 6’1” and 55 years old, he may be taller than his dad but he’s not always taller than their tomato plants, which can top off at seven feet. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
In 2017 his dad, then age 83, decided to discontinue his garden. Both of his shoulders and both of his knees were in no condition for the rigors required of a dedicated gardener. He already had one knee replacement and was looking at another sometime in his future. There would be no more freshly picked tomatoes or peppers coming from his garden. His mind was made up. His son, Vince however was not convinced. And he came up with an offer his dad couldn’t refuse.
Instead of planting in the ground like his dad was used to, Vince told him he would build him beds in which to plant his beloved vegetables. No kneeling or straining his shoulders to dig deep down below ground level anymore, he told his dad. And he would do all the heavy work. Vince, Sr. gave his son the go ahead sign.
Vince lost no time. He knew he wanted their new garden to be all-organic and already had a cache of his own organic compost to begin with. Along with his own research, he contacted The Fertrell Company. Located in Bainbridge, PA, in Lancaster County, it is one of the oldest producers of organic fertilizers in the U.S.A. “It’s not easy to go organic,” Vince says, “but the people at Fertrell make it easy.”
As with that first year, Vince and his dad sent samples of their soil to the company every year. The agronomists there analyze it and through their recommended amendments help them build up the nutrients in their soil beds. Soil amendments are materials worked into the soil to enhance the soil’s physical properties, such as the soil’s texture and its pH level.
“You can have beautiful looking vegetables without nutritional value,” Vince says. That’s why every year Vince tops off their beds with his own organic compost and then adds the amendments recommended for their soil by the agronomists at Fertrell.
This year they planted 34 different types of vegetables. And, several, including tomatoes, peppers, cabbage and eggplant, boast different varieties. For example, some of the tomato varieties include Sun Sugar, a yellow cherry tomato, and Ferris Wheel, a large, pink tomato with luscious, velvety, well-balanced, bold, sweet flavors. As a beefsteak tomato, one slice will amply cover your sandwich quite nicely. The Ferris Wheel is also an indeterminate tomato which means it will continue to grow and produce fruit until it dies by disease or frost. It’s also known as a vining tomato because it requires staking or other type of support.
A few of their heirlooms include Lucky Cross, a large bi-colored, juicy and fruity tomato with a creamy texture and with some ribbing in the shoulders; Opalka, a paste tomato that, unlike most, delivers a punch of flavor. So sweet and refreshing, it can be eaten right off the vine. And Yellow Brandywine is a golden beefsteak with a complex mix of enticing flavors. As a plus, it’s also a solid, sturdy plant in the garden. Guaranteed not to disappoint.
It’s hard living in Bucks County and so close to New Jersey not to hear all the hoopla around Jersey tomatoes, Vince says. So he does what he always does. He went straight to the source and contacted Rutgers University Agricultural Experimentation Station (NJAES) for seeds of their prize-selling tomatoes. “Like Fertrell, the people at Rutgers are very helpful,” Vince says. This year he’s growing four of their top hybrids, including the Ramapo; the Rutgers; the Moreton; and the KC-146, also called the “Campbell Soup Tomato.”
“I’m always in search of the perfect tomato,” Vince says, remembering the juicy and flavorful one that his grandfather used to grow every year from seeds he had brought with him from Italy. “I still haven’t found it, but I keep looking. Part of the fun of gardening is the hunt for the perfect tomato.”
This year Vince and his dad are growing five varieties of eggplants, including Italian, Thai and Japanese varieties, and eight varieties of peppers, such as Ajvarski, a great roasting pepper from Macedonia; and Jimmy Nardello, a long, sweet red frying pepper from Italy. For cabbages, they are growing Savoy, the beauty queen of the cabbage family with deep, dark green outer leaves and curly leaves throughout with a mild, earthy taste; Napa, probably the best known Chinese cabbage variety and great in stir-fries; and Conehead, a biennial, heart-shaped, cabbage, sometimes referred to as English cabbage. “It’s tender and super sweet,” Vince says. “I grow it for my brother-in-law who is from Manchester, England. He can’t get enough of it.”
In addition to the vegetables, the Gisoldis also plant a variety of herbs interspersed between the vegetables that are compatible with them. Planted among their vegetables are Italian basil, Thai basil, thyme, chives, dill, sage, oregano, parsley and lemon verbena. “Plant compatibility is very important,” Vince says. “There are good compatibility charts available on line.”
For deer and insect control, they have a high fence around the garden and a low electric fence. “We also use crop covers,” Vince says, “and various organic products from The Fertrell Company.”
Vince and his father are great seed savers. “The only ones you can’t save are the hybrids,” he says. Vince starts the seeds indoors under lights in March and then transfers the young plants to hoop houses outside in May. “My potting room is now my grow room,” he says, explaining that he had studied ceramics at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
As you can imagine, Vince and his dad produce tons of vegetables each year, including hundreds of pounds of tomatoes. Aside from enjoying them at their own table (Vince is a great cook, especially when it comes to stir-fries), they also can, freeze and pickle many of them. Still, Vince says, they grow much more than they could possibly use. “We give them away to family and friends,” he says. “We never sell any of our vegetables.”
If you’re one of the lucky family members or friends (like I want to be!), you’ll hear a knock on your door this summer, and, when you open it, you’ll find Vince on your doorstep, holding an armful of fresh, just picked vegetables from their garden for you. He also donates much of their vegetables to local food pantries such as Fisherman’s Mark.
“I keep very little. I give almost everything away,” he says. “I think I have a problem with giving. I kinda go overboard. But I just love seeing the smiles on the faces of the people. And to know that I’m helping them to eat better.”