Old Fashioned Tomato Supports

A pole, some twist-ties, and some twine is all I use to support my tomatoes. I know there are new and fancier ways of doing this task, but I'm an old fashioned kind of guy.

Believe it or not, supporting my tomato plants with the twist-tie is one of my favorite things to do in the garden.  Every time I need to support the plant is a small reminder that my labor is working and that the plant is growing.  It's a reminder that this is a living, breathing thing that benefits from my care.

It doesn't always work well though. My two Cherokee Purples were tipping over so I had to tie them together with some twine. Some would call that extra "work", but I just see it as a necessary part of growing plants that in turn provides me with some much cherished one-on-one time. Would it be easier to use tomato cages? Yes. Is it old fashioned of me to use twist-ties? Yes. Would I have it any other way? Nope.

(Forced) Companion Planting

When your gardening space is relegated to a small strip of ground and a couple of containers, companion planting is your best friend---your forced best friend, but a best friend none the less.

Case in point:

Here you have my late summer planting of tomatoes.  I planted my two favorite varieties, Brown Berry Cherry and Cherokee Purple.  Because we can grow tomatoes well into October here in Los Angeles, I decided to plant a late Summer crop.  I realized this Summer that the spot where I'm currently growing my tomatoes isn't necessarily the best spot---it only gets about 5 hours of sun.  The tomatoes are doing fine, but I wondered if planting them just across the entrance to our apartment would serve them better since it gets sun practically all day.  Only problem was the box I wanted to use was slated for beets, so companion planting it is!

I have no idea whether these two veggies like to grow next to each other, but so far they seem to be playing fine.  I figure that beets like it on the cooler side so once the tomatoes grow taller they can act like a natural umbrella to partially shade the beets.  I guess I'll have to wait and see.