He wants to be king of LI tomato growers

Reader Billy King of Mastic Beach has thrown his hat into the ring again this year, vying to grow Long Island's biggest tomato. And judging by the hat he's thrown, he's looking pretty optimistic (see photo). Here's what he reports:

"This past fall I did a lot of prep work on the tomato bed. I added about 15 yards of compost and did a soil test. I added whatever the soil test recommended. Then I put the tomato bed to sleep for the winter. I got seeds [from] as far as Canada and as close to home as Ohio. This year I'm going to stay on top of my fungicide program so I don't get late blight like last year. I'm growing The Domingo, F5 hybrid Big Zac, Belmonte and Giant Belgium."

For those new to the challenge: Don't bother scouring the Internet for Domingo seeds; King nabbed them from a past winner at the annual Great Long Island Tomato Challenge. Sign up for this year's challenge; there's no telling what you might win! Send your story and photo to jessica.damiano@newsday.com.