The garden is planted. (Tomatoes are 3-4 feet tall already)

[NutmegYankee]

I got everything in as planned. The Wall O' Waters worked out great and I have tiny green tomatoes in the first week of June in New England Zone 6!

I took these photos on May 27:





Photos June 7:

[alfie]

1. Neat garden!

Looking good. What are your tomato cages made from? How about the red towers? Are they for pole beans? Cukes? Something else? I stake my tomatoes and that works pretty well for me. My pole beans are on a tall hoop made from concrete reinforcing wire. I plant green beans on one side, Christmas limas on the other. They meet at the top and fall over to the other side. I am in zone 6 and have green toms about 2 inches across, a few bell peppers nickle sized. Okra is just now coming up. I will try to post some pix in a few days. This time of year the garden looks good. Chaos reigns by August.

[NutmegYankee]

2. I purchased the tomato towers.

I have been buying sets of cages from Gardeners Supply Company for about 5 years, So I have quite a few. None have ever rusted out on me. The green towers are the Extra tall Tomato towers and the red ones are another tomato tower that I decided to try. I also use some of the spare towers for pole beans and Lima beans, but that garden, a 6x8 plot, is not in the photos. That out of photo garden also has bush beans.

In the photos I have tomatoes, sunflowers, onions, lettuce, broccoli, peas, squash and zucchini, and peppers.

Part of the reason I went with towers versus staking is I grow Heirlooms that are indeterminate. They can get very vine like by late summer. I usually dead head them at 6 feet high and let them bush out.

[alfie]

3. I know what you mean about late summer tom vines

I have found toms 6 feet away from the mother plant hiding in the flower beds. I sometime put stakes a couple of feet from the main plant and tie the vines to them. Some times I just let them rip. By then I am like "do I REALLY have to go pick toms?"

[NutmegYankee]

4. I have the luck of having a lot of "customers".

My entire office practically starts drooling when I start my garden. I bring in a lot of excess and it just disappears in minutes.

[alfie]

5. I've been known to sneak over to neighbors...

and leave toms on their porches late at night.

[libodem]

6. Fabulous!

My garden space is about 20×20 and I have a sneeking suspicion it was the farmer's driveway prior to the 90's.
Every shovel full of dirt is half gravel.

My garden is like road mix.

[NutmegYankee]

7. Is it possible to bring in dirt and build large raised beds?

I did raised beds because my garden is built into a hillside, but it makes for some easy gardening compared to standard soil plots.

[libodem]

8. I've thought about raised beds

But in a better part of the yard. I'm grateful that this house came with a garden plot but it is on the west side. The shadow of the house covers it intil noon.