May11
Upside Down Tomatoes. Really!
I am a frequent flyer.
That might be an odd opening statement for a blog centered around seasonal cooking and related topics, but bear with me here… it really is pertintent!
Like all the other frequent flyers on Northwest, we are held captive for hours on end, staring at the back of the seat in front of us. Cleverly, Northwest has found a way to capitalize further on your boredom. They provide a Skymall Magazine in the seat pocket in front of you.
So, as a frequent flyer, you get on plane after plane and inevitably boredom drives you to resort to thumbing through this magazine. And voila - you get sucked in. You find things you never even knew you needed, only to discover that you need them desperately! And try as you might to control the urge to spend, eventually you give in and do it.
This is how I came to own my upside down tomato planter. It’s an amazing thing. You fill the base with water to weigh it down, you stick tomato plants through holes in the top, you fill the top with dirt, and then you plant your herb garden on top of that.
Well, I think it is amazing anyway. Greg is dubious. He’s wondered aloud if a Ronco Bass-O-Matic is going to turn up on our doorstep next. He seems to be missing the sense of adventure needed to view this with enthusiasm.
Jimbo looked on in confusion as we forced tomato plants through holes. This isn’t unusual. Jimbo tends to be perpetually confused. Toshi didn’t seem to really care what we were doing. This isn’t unusual either.
My family joined us for dinner the day after we got this out on our back deck. They rolled around the yard laughing and pointing.
But come August, when I have beautiful tomatoes hanging upside down in my backyard, I know that I will have the last laugh.
Deborah Dowd May 11th 2007 at 06:42 pm 1
Actually I read that growing this way foils pests and increases yield, but so far I have resisited temptation (every time I try to grow tomatoes the squirrels beat me to the punch!) Let us know how it goes!
Irene May 12th 2007 at 10:00 pm 2
I have heard the same thing! I have also heard that disease is lessened due to increased air circulation around the leaves and fruit.
I think that there are going to be some envious people in August!
Thanks for your comment! I’ll take pictures along the way and post them.
beth May 15th 2007 at 04:42 pm 3
I just got one of these things myself. Unfortunately, although the spot I selected appeared to be flat, it’s not. The darned thing is off balance and I’m stumped as to how to fix this 80 lb thing now! Oh well. I’ll figure something and yes - the tomatoes will be grand!
Turkeys and Tomatoes | Cuisine Capers Oct 15th 2007 at 01:05 pm 4
[...] a sense of humor if we had not just spent significant time in the backyard wrestling with our new upside down tomato planter! He’ll appreciate that struggle in August, I am [...]
barbara Apr 15th 2008 at 07:03 pm 5
your dogs are beautiful i think i must have a shiba inu mix because she looks very much like jimbo.