Last year a single tomato plant provided my family with tomatoes from July through November. The plant cost me $3, the fertilizer another $6. This $9 investment saved me an estimated $100 in tomato purchases over a period of 5 months. It was effortless and even fun. Here’s how you can grow tomatoes in your own backyard too.
Select a Sunny Spot
My backyard only gets sun in the afternoon. This made growing tomatoes in my backyard a little tricky. To overcome the problem, I cleared a patch in my backyard flower bed, which begins to get sun around noon. As the months passed and my tomato plant flourished, I would end up clearing a space 6 feet across.
Tomato Seeds or a Tomato Plant?
I live too far north to have time to grow my tomatoes from seeds. Instead, I went to a local nursery and asked to buy the hardiest, tastiest tomatoes they have. My online research convinced me that I should buy Italian Tree Tomatoes, but at the nursery the expert simply gave me a plant, told me not to worry about names, just to plant it in a sunny spot and water the tomatoes every morning. So I did.
Planting my Tomatoes in My Backyard
I dug a hole twice as deep and wide than the pot the tomato plant came in. I filled the hole with rich potting mix (which I had in my garage). Then I loosened the roots of the tomato plant before placing it in the hole, surrounded by nutritious soil. I sprinkled a little fertilizer on top and watered heavily.
Watering
I kept the hose extended all the way to my tomato plant, to save myself the trouble of dragging it over daily. I watered my tomatoes heavily every morning. In time I realized, that the more I watered the plant, the faster it grew.
Slugs
Within three weeks my tomato plant was five feet tall and tomatoes were growing on it. Then I noticed the slugs that flocked to the plant as if my tomatoes were a fast-food stand. Because I have three dogs who roam my backyard freely, I didn’t want to spread any pesticide around my garden. I’ve heard that coffee can repel slugs also, but I chose to simply come out at night with a flashlight and pick the slugs I could see. This system worked perfectly.
Ripen on the Vine or in a Bag?
As long as the sun persisted I left my tomatoes to ripen on the vine. But as soon as cold weather blew in around October, I picked all my green tomatoes (two large basketfuls). I then wrapped the tomatoes in paper bags and placed them in my pantry to ripen in the dark. In this way I had tomatoes well into the end of November.
More from this Contributor
How to Treat and Control Black Spot on Roses
How to Patch a Very Big Hole in Drywall
Growing Tomatoes Indoors
