A Year After Sandy Surprise Crop Pops Up In Long Island Yard

NEW YORK(CBSNewYork) -- There has been something unusual growing in the wreckage of Superstorm Sandy, it's something edible that nobody planted.

It's late in the season to be harvesting backyard tomatoes but that isn't the strangest thing about the bumper crop that has grown in the Gorman's, Freeport backyard, CBS 2's Carolyn Gusoff reported.

Tomato vines have grown on the family's fence, in rocks, and through patio cracks. John and Pat Gorman had no idea where they came from.

"They just appeared," John said, "I didn't do anything. I hardly water them. They're here, they're there. did you see the ones growing out of the concrete?"

"I never ever had a tomato garden, so this is fantastic and I didn't even plant it," Pat Gorman said.

The Gormans think that the mystery crop is a gift from Sandy. Their backyard was submerged by 6-foot waves and tomato seeds can migrate in flood water.

The Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County told CBS 2's Gusoff that the surprise growth has not been limited to tomatoes. They have also had reports of unwelcome weeds taking root.

"Crabgrass mostly, or any annual seeds they've never seen on their properties," Sandra Vultaggio explained.

For the Gorman's the tomato surprise has brought comic relief to an otherwise unfunny situation.

"If I had a spaghetti tree going I'd have the perfect combination," John said.

Experts said that the Gorman's crop is probably extra hardy because of all of the minerals and nutrients from the soil that was brought in by the flood waters.

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