Permanent Wire Tomato "Cages"

Permanent Wire Tomato Cages FARM HOME Food Several years ago Alex Zieba was running a commercial vegetable garden CSA and needed to cage 600 tomato plants cheaply and quickly That s when he came up with an idea that he says is still one of the best gardening ideas he s ever had A neighbor gave me a few rolls of old wire I just laid out the wire û which has 4 by 4-in openings - in 3 horizontal layers the length of the tomato bed Then I place posts every 6 ft or so along the sides and tie the wire panels to the posts The layers are positioned 12 in 24 in and 35 in off the ground I also added 2 by 2 crossbars between the posts to provide extra support The tomato bed in the pictures is 25 ft long The plants are placed every 3 ft in the row and grow into the cages by themselves with no further tying training or worrying about cages falling over The fruit is kept well off the ground and is easy to pick from the sides Tomatoes are one of the few crops you can grow in the same place year after year so a thick mulch under the wires keeps the area weed-free and fertilized for next year with no need to move the cage So you just have to assemble this system once and it ll pay off for years to come Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dr Alex Zieba Coordinator Philosophy & Humanities Heritage College 325 boul Cite des Jeunes Room 215C Gatineau Quebec J8Y 6T3 azieba@cegep-heritage qc ca

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.