by Audra H. Anders for The Aha! Connection
I am so excited about my tomato crop this year. I’ve never had such a bountiful tomato harvest! I finally realized growing tomatoes in pots is MUCH more difficult than planting them straight into the ground. In all my previous years of trying to grow tomatoes, I would get one or two from each pot and found myself watering the pots multiple times per day because they were so thirsty the pots kept drying out. This year I decided to plant them directly in the GROUND. I made space for four plants at the top of my driveway which gets tons of morning sun. I had one left so I planted it in my herb garden…which is located in a planter my dad and I created out of my kids old play set picnic table.
We had a lot of rain earlier this summer so God really helped me out with the watering. My mom also introduced me to Miracle Grow for tomatoes and I’ve showered my plants about every other week with this special treat. Deer attacked my sunflowers at the beginning of this growing season so I quickly learned about deer and rabbit repellant and treated my tomatoes to this smelly concoction a few times just in case our local rabbits or deer decided they wanted a bite or two.
I made a big batch of gazpacho last week and it’s just so good I decided I needed to share the recipe again. I tweaked it a little this season because I didn’t realize Clamato juice has some unhealthy ingredients. I’ve also been giving away tomatoes to neighbors because hubby, college son and I can’t eat them quickly enough! We’ve just about overdosed on BLTs, tomato sandwiches, and fried green tomatoes. I treat the tomato plants like my little pets and talk to them when watering. Yes….I’m a crazy garden gal! I highly recommend growing tomatoes as a fun hobby.
If you are a tomato gardener, I’d love to hear some tips and tricks from you so feel free to leave a comment!
