All Hail the Tomato King!

By Vanessa Richins

I hope to be like Larry Kimpell when I’m 80 years old.

I already am in some ways, since we both share a love of growing tomatoes.

Like him, I get seed catalogs in the spring and carefully study all of the varieties, trying to decide which ones I want to grow.

I learned how to garden and cook when I was growing up, as did he.

We both want to help our friends and neighbors eat better. I’m working on starting a community garden, and he helps provide fresh vegetables for the residents of the nursing home he calls home.

The Albert Lea, MN resident is still growing over 100 tomato plants yearly, as part of St. John’s Lutheran Home’s gardening program. He’s lived there for the past 6.5 years, zipping around the garden in Read the rest of this entry »