29 Jun 2018

Tomatoes a la Romano: a Nelson family's tradition

From Country Life, 9:15 pm on 29 June 2018

The Romano family has been growing tomatoes in Nelson since the 1940s and now Bettina Romano is continuing the family tradition.

Bettina's father-in-law Tony Romano used to run one of the biggest tomato growing operations in The Wood – a Nelson suburb of Nelson once known as 'Little Italy' because so many Italian immigrants lived and worked there.

Bettina would often sit beside Tony while he worked in the glasshouse, and he taught her the tricks of the trade.

"With all his skills and knowledge he taught me how to grow my own seed, propagate my tomato plants, plant them out and nurture them," she says proudly.

Bettina grows heirloom tomatoes in four large glasshouses at her Cable Bay property. Currently, she is the only commercial grower of the Capri variety in the area.

Bettina sells her tomatoes, along with eggplants, peppers, capsicums and other Mediterranean delights at the Nelson farmers' market. She also supplies several local restaurants.