Tomato Cages

One of my favorite songs growing up was John Denver's Homegrown Tomatoes


Such happy memories of driving down the road with my mom belting out John Denver with the cassette tape.

I think the reason this song resonated with me is because it is oh so true, there is nothing in the world better than homegrown tomatoes.  Or could it be that I love homegrown tomatoes because of the memories I have of singing John Denver in the car, or the memories I have of planting a garden with my parents.  One of my fond memories is the night that my Uncle Jim took me out on the front porch and taught me all about how to properly eat a tomato.  You need a salt shaker in one hand and a Fresh Homegrown Tomato in the other, you take your first bite, and then you sprinkle some salt on, and take your next bite. I guess it is sort of like the which came first the chicken or the egg scenario.  Which comes first, the fond memories or the love of tomatoes?

Anyhow, I love to grow tomatoes, but the search for the perfect tomato cage has been a struggle.  Wire tomato cages get laden with tomatoes and then fall over.    the Big super strong metal ones take an entire storage shed to store,  Last year I tried the staking method, this worked great until my plants got lots of fruit and then it just pushed the whole plant down the stake and broke the plant.  I tried the folding collapsible square ones and they just collapsed with the plant in them.  This year I came up with an idea that I am quite proud of.

 

I don't know what the best thing about these tomato cages are  things I love about these

1.  I made them up, they truly are a product of my own imagination, this is pleasing

2. they are a work of art or a nice sculptural addition to my yard

3. they are sturdy and are not going to fall over

4. they only cost $12

5. and they don't take a whole storage shed to store my collection of tomato cages.

 

I really don't know which aspect I am most excited about! they all thrill me.  let me show you what you need.

 

You need 1 4x4 fence post topper the one I bought looked like this:

You could go fancier, but that would drive the cost up, I think mine cost $1.99

 

you need 4 1 inch hinges like this:

and four 2 x 2 as tall as you want you cages to be.  I got 8 ft long ones

 

This process is pretty self explanatory:  screw in the hinges to the top of the 2x2s  and into the bottom of the fence post topper.  I put mine in alternating corners so when I collapse it, the legs will close fully. Look at the awesome diagram I just created:

 

I then drilled holes about ever eight inches all the way down.  and I dug four holes about 8 inches deep around my tomato plants put my cages up and filled in the holes.  I then threaded yarn through the holes going round and round pulling it tight.  next year I might use twine, but I had plenty of yarn on hand so that is what I used.

 

I love tomatoes, and I love creatively solving my problems.  I feel particularly rewarded when people stop and comment on my "teepees."  I hope that my kids will develop fond memories of gardening with their mom.  Maybe I should blast some good old John Denver when we are working in the yard together.