Yay! Tomatoes!

12 Sep 2011 2 Comments

by Xenia in Food, Garden, Simple Living

September Tomatoes!

I’ve been whining all summer about how the lack of sunshine and temperatures that rarely exceeded 65 degrees were preventing my tomatoes from ripening.   But every year,  after the typically cold and foggy Seaside/ Monterey summer comes warm and sunny September,  just like it always does.  All the tomatoes that hung sorrowfully on their vines,  shivering in the gloom,  have all begun to ripen,  each and every one of them.   I grew these tomato vines on the patio,  using those Topsy-Turvy hanging baskets.   I see these things hanging off porches all over town, all of them with dead plants.  I think to make them work you need to do the following things:

1. Hang your planters in a sunny,  NON-WINDY location.
2. Use good potting soil.  The roots will eventually fill the entire container and you need good dirt if you want good tomatoes.
3. Water them everyday.   Every month or so,  add some organic fertilizer.

I used to put the tomatoes out in the regular garden and the vines would over-grow the wire cage resulting in many of the tomatoes rotting on the ground or being eaten by snails.  I didn’t have any of these problems with the Topsy Turvy baskets.  No rot, no snails,  no bugs,  no broken vines,  no hard-to-reach tomatoes… (and no sun,  for three months but I”m rejoicing in the sunshine now!)  I lost a few tomatoes to birds but I am glad to share.

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