Cathy selling produce to the writer

A woman in designer sunglasses, her hair ruffling prettily beneath a smart straw hat, steered her Mercedes convertible into Bogside Farm in Cataumet on a bright summer day, anxious to confide her secret request to owner Cathy Leone. "My houseguests brought tomatoes for lunch," the woman said, close to Leone's ear. "But they're not that good. I have to have yours!"

Smiling knowingly, Cathy Leone directed her customer to a folksy display of tomatoes, squash, corn, and sunflowers filling baskets and an old wooden wagon, set underneath an enormous spruce tree at the edge of County Road. The woman loaded the gorgeous summer tomatoes into her bags and went on her way, smiling from ear to ear.

Leone was grinning too, as she mused about her customer's request. "People say we're a hidden gem," she says.

Leone and her husband, Mike, have an enviable stature in these parts as a family that has made a living working the land in harmony with nature. But truth be told, the real Bogside celebrities are the tomatoes, the iconic red fruit that most of us (cooks included) insist are vegetables.

A ripe and juicy tomato, enjoyed under a glorious sun, bespeaks summer in a way that little else can. The late writer Lewis Grizzard famously said, "It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato." He was right. And Bogside tomatoes, indescribably sweet and delicious, just firm enough to hold their shape while you take that first bite out of hand, are some of the most special. As Leone says, "The tomatoes are the big hit."

Click Image to enlarge

Cathy and Mike Leone have been farming at their Cataumet home since 1988. But their green thumbs have been much longer in the cultivating. As Cathy says, "We've always grown one thing or another." In his early years, Mike summered in West Falmouth and as a young man sailed around the Cape with a friend in a 12-foot Widgeon. He lived for a time in a cabin he built in the woods at Bourne Farm when it was operated by the Bourne family, and Mike was working there as a blacksmith. Then he met Cathy, who grew up in North Falmouth. In the late-1980s, she and Mike began operating The Good Earth, a farm stand in the heart of North Falmouth. "I just loved growing things," Cathy says, "and I could bring my kids to work."

Today, the Leones' field spreads out behind their red 1820s farmhouse, bumping against 100 acres of cranberry bogs. The woodshed stands on the spot that used to hold a village gas station. Here on their three-acre parcel, the couple grows tomatoes and other vegetables, and Cathy offers "birdhouse gourds," ready for customers who want to make their own.

Between the field and the house is the greenhouse, filled with tomatoes that are grown from seed. (The Leones also farm a five-acre field at Hope Spring Farm in North Falmouth). They use no pesticides; instead, the couple is dedicated to integrated pest management, an environmentally sensitive approach to pests that relies on a combination of practices, such as using ladybugs to control aphids and other damaging insects. The couple used to raise pigs, but today the menagerie consists of two sheep, chickens, ducks, beehives, their dog, and pets from around the neighborhood. Alpacas may join the flock.

Click Image to enlarge

The Leones are sometimes assisted in planting crops by their children, Jessica, 25, and Mike III, 21, and hire part-time help during planting and harvest seasons. Cathy is usually the on-the-scene person in charge. Mike, who works full-time as a construction supervisor at J.K. Scanlon, is more difficult to catch. "He's behind the scenes," Cathy says. In the off-season, Cathy also does painting and varnishing at Ballentine's Boat Shop in Cataumet.

Mike built the greenhouse 20 years ago, outfitting it with automatic ventilation and drip irrigation. He and Cathy start the seeds in the house in February and move the plants in early March to the greenhouse, where they reach their full growth. The plants are trained to grow tall and slender, stretching toward the greenhouse roof. This summer day, there are hundreds of plants inside the structure, most of them an impressive 12 feet high, staked in sturdy white buckets.

The greenhouse tomatoes are at their most glorious, and productive, in mid-July. "That's when I start to fall behind in the picking," Mike says. Because the plants are well protected, they yield tomatoes from late June through September. That lengthy time span means that tomato-starved Cape Codders and visitors can get their fill for several months. And get their fill, they do. "People come from all over for them," Mike says. "We time them with the end of school."

The greenhouse tomatoes have inspired many tales told by customers who buy them green and let them ripen at home--or in more exotic locations. The Leones chuckle at some of the stories. The tomatoes have traveled on long boat rides and to Alaska for camping trips. And they've brought the family a certain degree of fame. Once, Cathy and Mike took the kids to Disney World for a vacation. Suddenly, she heard a man call out, "There's the Tomato Lady!" So, Cathy says, "That's how I'm known today, as the Tomato Lady."

The greenhouse tomatoes really are that special. But what variety are they? Mike Leone won't say. "I call them 'Super M's," he says, grinning. Cathy smiles too, adding "We like to keep the customers in suspense."

Mary Grauerholz is communications manager at The Cape Cod Foundation and a freelance writer.