WEST MILFORD When 10-year-old Anthony Tallia decided to grow a vegetable garden, he thought big real big. In May, he ordered 10 yards of top soil from Eden Farms and enlisted his dad’s help spreading it. Then he planted corn, green beans, green, yellow, and red peppers, basil, eggplant, cucumbers, zucchini and two kinds of tomatoes, Roma and Supersonic Beefsteaks, using a combination of seeds and plants. The garden began blooming in June but just as it was coming up, a groundhog began destroying it. “He chewed off the tops of the plants and ate the beans,” Tallia explained. After about a week the family was able to trap the groundhog in a cage and the plants began flourishing again. The sunflowers are a testament to this, now about 10 feet tall. Last month, he began harvesting his crop. With the help of his mom, Anthony has been cooking with his fresh produce. He makes fresh tomato sauce with basil, boiling and peeling the tomatoes, and he even bakes zucchini muffins. Anthony credits his green thumb to his Italian heritage and the help of his dad Mike. He is already planning next year’s garden, which will be twice as big.