Dateline: 23 August 2013
I've been heavily focused this week on making my first production run of clothespins (as explained HERE). If all goes well, I will have clothespins for sale by September first. Meanwhile, the tomatoes are ripening nicely. We are eating fresh tomatoes every day!
One of the garden projects I most enjoy each year is growing tomatoes on a tall T-post string trellis. If you have a copy of my Planet Whizbang Idea Book For Gardeners, you already know this. You also know how to make the trellis and train the tomatoes to grow on the strings.
The picture above shows a cluster of Juliet tomatoes that are on one T-post string trellis. Here's a larger view of the Tommy Toe string trellis...
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| click to see a larger view |
That T-post trellis is 7' 6" high and 5' wide. It has three plants and they are trained on 9 strings. Click Here to learn how I make a tall, sturdy T-post string trellis.
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| String-trained Tommy Toe tomatoes. You can see an orange string on the left and right of the picture. |
Those are nice tomatoes, I haven't seen any like them around here (VA). We had too much rain this summer and everyone's tomato patch died for the most part. I am going to save seeds from any survivors.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to let you know I really enjoyed your book. Reading through some older post I noticed you stopped eating wheat. Did you do the whole gluten free thing or just wheat? I am interested to know if you are still holding out and how you are feeling with the whole thing. Thanks---John
ReplyDeleteSunnybrook Farm—
ReplyDeleteIt was an extremely wet summer here too. And I was concerned that the tomatoes would get blight. But when trellised up, the plants dry out pretty well, and I kept the lower leaves cut off so they don't touch the soil. Some lower leaves are yellowing, but I cut them off too.
John—
I've been waiting for someone to ask me if I'm still off wheat. I'm a backslider. I felt very good when I was eschewing wheat in my diet, but my downfall was a couple weeks after writing the blog post. My son brought home a pizza and I gave in. It was a gradual return to my regular diet with wheat. But I have NOT had a Ritz cracker.