Community & Business
10 July, 2025
Cream of the crop
A LOCAL Mareeba couple have recently grown some huge tomatoes that have each weighed in at just under 2kg.
Bill and Doris Rockley enjoy growing fruit and vegetables at their home in Mareeba, and they try to grow them “as organically as possible”.
They noticed a pair of tomatoes in their garden that just kept growing and growing. Bill only decided to pick them recently when they started colouring and he was astonished with how big they were.
The largest tomato weighed in at 1.997kg with a diameter of 66mm, while the other weighed 1.73kg with a 41mm diameter. Bill said if these two tomatoes were purchased at Coles, it could cost nearly $50.
“I’ve never grown any this big, and I’ve been growing tomatoes ever since I left school,” he said.
“These are the first big ones, but they are a new variety that I’ve never used before. Two Italian ladies told me they were Roma tomatoes, but the only Roma’s I know are long tomatoes, so I’m not too sure what they are exactly.”
He said he doesn’t really have any secrets to growing such big tomatoes.
“These ones just seemed to look very big, and I didn’t pick them until they started colouring,” he said.
“But they are a nice tomato. They’re a softer sort and they’ve got a nice flavour.
“We try to be as organic as possible. We don’t use artificial fertilisers or anything like that.”
