The Family that Grows Together
How a school growing challenge turned a Burlington grandfather and granddaughter into a team — and keeps families coming back to the garden year after year.
One spring day in April 2016, Francis Wyman second grader Chloe Liljegren received a packet of seeds and a challenge: Grow the biggest, heaviest, or most interesting tomato in Burlington Public Schools.
Chloe, who graduated from BPS this May and will be attending Springfield College to study physical therapy in the fall, says she knew exactly who she’d enlist to help her with the project. “I didn’t know much about gardening, so I said, ‘Let me ask my Papa.’”
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“Papa Charlie” Gualtieri still lives on the property in Burlington where he and his wife settled in 1966 and where daughter Kim Liljegren, Chloe’s mom, grew up. Charlie said gardening is in his blood, going back to his childhood when he’d visit his grandparents on their summer farm in Revere. “Take a peek at that,” he said, bringing up a photo on his phone as we sat on the outdoor patio next to his garden. There, in black and white, are a couple from around 1955 holding long vegetables that stand more than half their height. “That’s my grandmother and grandfather.” The vegetables they’re holding, Charlie said, are called gugazzelli – a very long squash variety.
He used to have an expansive garden, shared with the next-door neighbor, where he grew everything from squash to basil to peaches to peanuts. Charlie says the garden has shrunk over the years, partially due to increased shade from the large trees.
Together, Charlie and Chloe raised a tomato plant from seed – and Charlie still uses the same packet of “Mortgage Lifter” tomato seeds to start tomatoes for his garden each year. Chloe said they didn’t do anything special, just drew on Charlie’s experience and cared for the plant together. “I water every morning, and I fertilize once a week,” said Charlie.
By planting her tomato seed, Chloe joined the ranks of students participating in the Burlington Science Center’s biannual growing challenge, where elementary students are invited to use materials provided by the Science Center and the Burlington Garden Club to grow a given fruit or vegetable over the summer. Come September, students (and their families) submit their best fruit and cross their fingers.
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Chloe and Papa Charlie’s efforts were fruitful. The “Mortgage Lifter” grew to 1 lb 14.4 oz, winning that year’s challenge. Charlie, Kim, and dad Karl all came to Chloe’s classroom to surprise her with the announcement.
Ten years later, “His home screen on his phone is me with my little tomato,” said Chloe. “He still talks about it. He’ll bring it up to his coworkers, or if someone comes to visit his office, he says, ‘I grew a really big tomato with my granddaughter.’” She said she remembers the experience fondly. “It was just something for me and my Papa to bond on,” she said.
Chloe’s tomato was far from the only challenge Papa Charlie participated in with his granddaughters over the years. Chloe said she and her sister Mia grew corn, cucumber, and pumpkin and came close to winning some other years, as well.
Charlie, who still works full-time despite the fact that he “should long be retired,” said gardening with his granddaughters has brought him a lot of joy over the years, regardless of the outcome. “I just got a big kick out of it. I never thought we’d win.”
That intergenerational bonding, said Science Center Director Wendy Pavlicek Tyburczy, is one of the best parts of the activity. “You’ve got grandfathers and grandmothers teaching their children about pollination and how to grow plants and getting their hands dirty and connecting with the earth.” The memories families make together, said Pavlicek Tyburczy, endure long after the challenge ends.
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Pavlicek Tyburczy said the Burlington Garden Club provides seeds or soil each year, and the post office takes official weights for the challenge. “It really brightens [post office employees’] day,” she said, “and it’s nice to collaborate with another town office.”
What the Liljegren-Gualtieri family loves about the growing challenge, said Kim and Chloe, is that it offers opportunities to students who haven’t grown up with a green-thumbed grandfather like Charlie, showing kids that anyone can grow fresh food for themselves and their family.
The every-two-year challenge features a different plant every time. At the end of each challenge, Pavlicek Tyburczy compiles collages with photos of participating students, which rotate through elementary school lobbies so students can see their work and that of their classmates recognized. Grand prize winners are recognized during announcements at each school.
This year, Burlington elementary school students are growing Obsidian summer zucchini squash, sprouted in classrooms and brought home for students to raise. Prizes for the longest, heaviest, and most unique will be given in September, and all participants will receive a goody bag and an “honorable gardener” certificate.
