It may be hard to believe, but a Boone County garden emerged from a paper towel. Bob and Bea Gordon are growing a tomato garden that some may call "a paper towel plantation."

On a vine near Rocheport hangs the fruit of the Gordon family tree, with their lineage stuck to a paper towel. For decades Bob's Aunt Leta saved the seeds of the best tomatoes to plant the next year.

"Very few people can say they have a tomato plant that's been growing for a hundred years that's been passed down for generations to generation," said Don Gordon, Bob Gordon's son.

When Aunt Leta passed away, the Gordon's continued to save her seeds on a paper towel.

"(The paper towel) is the holder for the seeds. When we eat a tomato and think it tastes real good, we just slide it over (to) the edge of the plate," said Bob Gordon.

They place the special seeds on the paper towel for safe keeping. When it is time to plant the following year, Bob says they get out the paper towel and take the seeds off. The family saves the paper towel until the next year when it is time to plant the seeds.

Bea and Bob have been married for 53 years, and they know a lot about cultivating close relationships. They don't have a lot of acreage or fancy equipment. They use eggshell fertilizer and a garden hose to grow their tomatoes. Bob and Bea grow tomatoes that are more than two and a half pounds and 16 inches around.

The Gordon family could probably find people willing to buy their tomatoes, but Don said they are not in the business of selling. Their select seeds have been feeding families for a hundred years.

"There's not a person I know who doesn't get a tomato from us," said Barbie Gordon, daughter in law of Bob and Bea.

Many of the tomatoes they give to people who are in need of food.

"It gives pleasure to those. I gave one to a man at my church who had cancer. He enjoys them," said Bob.

This year alone, the Gordon's have given away about 1,000 pounds of tomatoes. Bob and Bea are the vine that feeds a community by sharing their bounty with family and friends.