A Decade of DIY Tomato Cages

A garden overview from the greenhouse door.  8/19/2022

This year we celebrated 10 years in our home.  It also marks ten growing seasons using our DIY tomato cages, too.  That seemed like something to follow up on.  

A tangle of tomato vines largely obscures the DIY cages that support them.  8/19/2022

Without a doubt, these DIY cages were an excellent investment.  The half-height cages are superb for eggplants and peppers.  The full-height cages are ideal for tomatoes and tomatillos.  They are just as functional and sturdy as the day we made them, albeit sporting a solid patina of rust and dirt now.   Matt says he expects to get another decade out of them, too.  We never found the need to stake them--hooray! 

Fresh and red, ripe for the picking.  9/13/2022

Matt said the only thing he would do differently would be in regard to the diameter of the cages.  He'd make the big ones a little bigger around so that nesting the smaller cages inside them (for winter storage) would be easier.  Sometimes they snag on each other as it is now and it takes a little fussing to take them into/out of storage.  Nothing major, but just a slight tweak would be a big improvement.  Good to know for next time.  ;)

 The tomato row.  8/19/2022

We have a much shorter row of tomatoes growing in the garden this year.  Last year was such a bumper crop.  We're still eating 2021 tomato sauce.  Ketchup, too.   I love it when we can be self-reliant like that in any capacity.  Plus, it gave us more growing space for trying kooky new crops like the artichokes though.  

Another garden overview, complete with Ginger kitty cutting across one of the beds hot on my heels.  9/13/2022

The ripe 2022 tomatoes are starting to trickle into the kitchen (and eggplant, peppers, carrots, potatoes, beans, and more).  I cooked up the best pot of chili I've ever made last week and I'm sure all the garden fresh veg gets most of the credit.  The tomatoes in particular.

Speaking of artichokes...here is one that went to flower while we were on vacation.  So pretty.  9/13/2022