Produce from the garden of Penni and Reggie Preli, of Carlstadt, N.J. (Jaimie Winters/The Record/TNS)

CARLSTADT, N.J. (TNS) — Nestled on the corner of the busy thoroughfare of Monroe Street and Central Avenue is a garden that puts your grandfather’s tomato plants to shame.

Reggie and Penny Preli have managed to take a gardening hobby to another level. On a small portion of their property — approximately 45 feet by 15 feet, in addition to their use of a small shed and their basement in the winter months — the Preli’s grow hundreds of plants and vegetables each summer. From Black Krim tomatoes to sweet heat peppers, cucumbers to eggplant to zucchini and loads of herbs, all of the Preli’s vegetables are grown locally and organically right in their yard.

The garden has taken on a life of its own and has seen the Preli’s adopt a name for their hobby — Garden Gnome Grown. The name, according to Penny, was coined by a friend of hers. By July and August, the tomato plants can grow to be 9 feet tall. Penny, who is about 5 feet tall, would disappear in the garden while picking tomatoes, prompting her friend to jokingly call her a garden gnome. They liked the name and it stuck.

To describe the Prelis’ garden as a hobby does not do it justice. The planning and preparation for the spring and summer, which begin months in advance, is meticulous and crucial because the plants do not just sprout out of the ground.

By August the produce is so abundant they sell the vegetables to people who place orders or meander by.

“What people don’t realize — these vegetable gardens are a lot of work,” Reggie said. “Every single day there is a lot to do.”

That work begins in January each year, right in the Prelis’ basement, when seeds are sewn in the smallest of pots.

With the exception of the tomato seeds, which are planted in February, everything is planted in January. Upon venturing down into the Prelis’ basement in March, trays of plants can be found throughout the space with lamps and lights hovering above them — on small crates, on tables, even on the washer and dryer.

“Anywhere there’s room to hang a light,” Reggie said. When asked, Reggie smiled and said he does not even look at the utilities bill.

In March, the Prelis begin the process of “hardening” the plants — the gradual exposure to sunlight, wind and cooler temperatures. Reggie and Penny bring trays outside for periods while they monitor their progress. It’s necessary because the basement’s climate can be controlled. The climate outdoors cannot.

For Reggie, gardening has been a lifelong hobby that began 50 years ago alongside his grandmother. The first thing she showed him how to do was weed.

While it has always been a hobby, the scale of their garden happened by accident a couple years ago, according to Penny, who said they went slightly overboard and were left with a surplus of plants and vegetables. In order to ensure they would not go to waste, the Prelis placed a sign on a nearby street encouraging people to stop by and buy some veggies.

Garden Gnome’s popularity sprouted as organically as their plants in Carlstadt and the area as more and more people began stop by, buy something and tell a friend. The Prelis continue to place the sign on the street and have created a Facebook page. They treat the garden like a yard sale but Penny makes herself available during the week for people who’d like to come to pick up a few things. The couple does turn a small profit, but by the end of the summer they find themselves giving away large quantities of their vegetables because otherwise it goes to waste.

Last year Garden Gnome sold somewhere between 800 and 900 plants and is on course to do the same amount this year, according to Penny, who added they sell a similar volume of vegetables.

“A lot of people like it,” Penny said.

“They’d rather come here than go to Lowe’s. It’s a better experience,” Reggie said.

And as much as Garden Gnome Grown is a hobby for Penny and Reggie, it is also a chance to teach people about unfamiliar vegetables, that tomatoes other than the unripe, tasteless ones you get at the supermarket do exist.

Inside their shed is a thick black binder full of pages highlighting the different varieties of each plant such as tomatoes and peppers, their respective vitamin levels and the taste one can expect. Penny and Reggie do their best to grow as many varieties of vegetables as they can.

Typically, all types of tomatoes including white, green and purple tomatoes can be found in the garden. Reggie is partial to the purple tomatoes, which he described as less acidic and “the sweetest thing on the planet.” Sweet and hot peppers, eggplants, arugula, string beans, cucumbers, zucchini, cabbage and herbs — regular and spicy oregano, Italian parsley, rosemary, sage, stevia, tarragon, and five different varieties of basil — are found in the garden.

The difference between Garden Gnome and the supermarkets are the heirloom seeds used. Heirloom plants are plants that were commonly grown a long time ago (sometimes in the 19th century) but are largely absent in today’s modern large-scale agriculture system.

The seeds Penny and Reggie use come from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. and are usually 50 years old or sometimes older and are not genetically modified. Heirloom tomatoes pack a tremendous flavor, according to Reggie, who added that the red tomatoes available in the grocery stores are in his opinion the least flavorful.

“Food is for your eyes, too, you want it to look good before you eat it,” Reggie said. “It’s all part of the dining experience.”

In fact, the only vegetables Reggie buys in the winter from the supermarkets are grape or cherry tomatoes. He added that there are customers who complain to him that they’ve been spoiled and that they cannot purchase produce at supermarkets any longer thanks to Garden Gnome.

But unlike supermarkets, the Prelis must contend with unwanted pests, like birds, as evidenced by the wire fencing over their cabbage plants and around their garden. Penny recalls an instance a couple of summers back when a couple of ripe, juicy tomatoes were prime for picking, and the plan was to make BLTs the next day. When she went outside, the tomatoes on the plant were all eaten. She still isn’t sure what got to the tomatoes.

Every year, Penny and Reggie try to plant something new, and there is some trial and error involved. This year, they tried to grow white habaneros, which ultimately did not take.

For Penny and Reggie the scale of their hobby is enough for now. They acknowledge that they could not handle growth because they can barely get rid of the vegetables they grow. However, Reggie is hopeful to one day purchase a couple of acres in Pennsylvania and really try his hand at farming.

“We enjoy it. We get to see people,” Reggie said. “It’s nice to teach people who didn’t know about (gardening).”

They also give advice when people approach them, emphasizing that the process takes time and care. A minimum of a half an hour each day should be dedicated to weeding the plant and making sure it has enough water, according to Penny.

“It’s like a baby — you can’t just leave it alone,” Penny said.

The Prelis also guarantee their plants, so if a customer purchases 10 or more plants, gives it their best effort, and the plants die, they will replace the plants free of charge.

And to ensure there are enough vegetables and plants to go around, the Prelis even enlist the help of a friend who allows them to plant additional vegetables in his backyard to ensure there is no shortage. But by the end of the summer, the Prelis are showering customers with their excess crops.

Where to take the extra veggies is still something the Prelis are trying to figure out.

“If a customer spends $20 on tomatoes, I’ll give them a few bushels of basil,” Penny said. “We have to, otherwise it goes to waste.”