Tunnelling Tomatoes

These lovely little treasures are from a tomato plant that I pinched from our old out-the-back neighbours, Evie's mum and dad... when they moved they said we could raid their yard, and I got so excited that I grabbed too much (it was late afternoon) and didn't have any time to plant them. So I just plopped them on the ground and threw some dirt at them, hoping for the best.

And I think I have gotten the best, don't they look lovely? I guess that they are Romas from their shape. I find them very appealing.

So I thought I'd give them a bit of looking after. Which will probably kill them, but hey, I've got others. I saw some tomato cages on another gardening blog, Quiet Desperation a while ago, and thought that I would have a go at making a simpler version.

Because I have a great love of thrift, and under our house just seems to multiply, I took a look around and found this excellent wire, already in a tunnel shape. All I did was cut the last round layer off so the bottom vertical wire bits were exposed, and then pushed the whole thing into the ground over the tomato. I secured it to the fence behind it too, to give the whole thing a bit more support.

The idea is that the tomato grows up through the wire cylinder, and there's still heaps of room to get to the fruit. The wire supports the tomato, giving it something to lean on. Mine might be not quite tall enough, but I guess I will learn what works best for next time. If you are not a fan of wire then this bamboo one by veggiegobbler might be more to your taste. I thought that was a great idea, although for some reason I really prefer a tunnel shape.