STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — With more time available for gardening in retirement, a New Brighton woman has found herself with an 8-foot-tall cherry tomato plant staking its claim in her yard, much like a Staten Islander standing in the parking spot in front of their house.
Donna Casale, 69, began the next chapter of her life around 2021 after a long career with various government agencies, including a stint in the chaplain’s office for the New York sector of the U.S. Coast Guard.
This past May, she discovered the plant had begun sprouting up from between some pavers in her backyard. Rather than remove it, Casale decided to let it grow, eventually needing to support it with a wooden ladder as it has grown significantly larger than anticipated.
This past May, Donna Casale discovered the plant had begun sprouting up from between some pavers in the backyard of her New Brighton home. It has grown significantly larger than anticipated. (Courtesy of Donna Casale) (Advance/SILive.com | Scott R. Axelrod)
“This thing is tremendous, and it’s growing bigger tomatoes than would grow in soil,” she explained. “It’s growing in between pavers, so it must have very little soil in there, mostly sand.”
Casale’s green thumb is no joke. The unplanned plant has joined the rest of Casale’s garden, which includes Roma tomatoes, known for their elongated, egg-like shape, dense flesh and thick skin.
She also grows what she believes to be heirloom tomatoes, prized for their uniquely sweet flavor, varying colors and shapes and naturally pollinated genetic traits passed down through generations.
“This thing is tremendous, and it’s growing bigger tomatoes than would grow in soil,” Donna Casale explained in regard to the eight-foot-tall tomato plant that sprung up in the backyard garden of her New Brighton home.(Advance/SILive.com | Scott R. Axelrod)
Steps away, lengthy string beans overlook several different types of squash — she’s grown Italian Cucuzza that were six-feet-long, and sows bulky butternut specimens from seeds salvaged from store-bought produce.
Casale’s garden produces an abundance of vegetables, with her tomato plants yielding enough to fill her kitchen with produce reminiscent of a small farmers’ market.
Donna Casale’s garden is a lush menageries taking up much of the backyard of her New Brighton home.(Advance/SILive.com | Scott R. Axelrod)
Bright red and juicy, the tomatoes are also the stars of her homemade sauce she’ll portion out, bag and freeze, often with enough left over to deliver to neighbors, family and friends, she shared.
Asked if there’s a method to the miraculous bounty she’s managed to harvest: “All you really have to have is sun,” Casale said. “And when it doesn’t rain a lot, you just have to water everything; it really grows on its own.”
She went on to explain that while certain plants require fertilizer since bees don’t always take care of them, the bees buzzing around her garden have consistently managed to work their pollinating magic.
That’s in addition to her opinion that Staten Island has exceptionally fertile soil — a belief likely fostered by her childhood experiences around gardening.
Casale, who moved to the Island in 1996, was raised in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Her late father, Victor — a longshoreman originally from Rosebank — could often be found tending to his beloved vegetables in the family’s spacious backyard, surrounded by the chickens, ducks, racing pigeons, and canaries he lovingly bred.
Donna Casale’s garden produces an abundance of produce, with her tomato plants yielding more than enough for her to make plenty of her homemade tomato sauce.(Advance/SILive.com | Scott R. Axelrod)
When not donning her gardening gloves, she often shares anecdotes, tips and photos of her crop with over 600 other enthusiasts in a group called “Gardening on Staten Island” on the Nextdoor social media platform.
Calculating increasing grocery costs and steep prices of organic vegetables, Casale considers the chance to grow one’s own food is simply “a gift from nature.”
She pointed out that people often claim they don’t have enough space to tend to a garden, but she believes the sight of a tomato plant thriving from between pavers proves that lack of space shouldn’t be an excuse for anyone with even the slightest interest to not be outside getting their hands dirty.
For Casale, the experience of stepping out into her lush, flourishing garden brings with it daily rewards: “It feels like a gift every day when you see all these tomatoes that turn red, and you get to pick them off the vine — it feels like Christmas day, every day.”
“This thing is tremendous, and it’s growing bigger tomatoes than would grow in soil,” Donna Casale explained in regard to the eight-foot-tall tomato plant that sprung up in the backyard garden of her New Brighton home.(Advance/SILive.com | Scott R. Axelrod)
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