Gardening season is almost here, can you believe it? I am counting down the days until I start planting my seeds. I can hardly stand it.
I was looking through photos last night of the trip I took to Kew Gardens last summer and came across photos of some quick cheap essay trellis ideas and wanted to share with you.
It’s no secret around here that I LOVE canning. I especially love growing tomatoes, not only to eat fresh, but to turn into jars of salsa, bruschetta and pasta sauce.
I’ve even been known to can green tomatoes {piccalilli and green tomato curry sauce!}.
And while I won’t be starting my tomato seeds until April 1st, that doesn’t mean I can’t dream of filling my vertical garden full of tomato plants.
Vertical gardening, that’s what our garden will be all about this summer and I’m super excited about it too.
After seeing all the different ways the gardeners at the Kew grew their tomatoes and pole beans I felt inspired and it made me feel like even though our gardening space here is really limited…
We’ll be fine. We’re still going to be able to grow a crazy amount of fresh veggies in the backyard.
So if you’re in the same boat I’m in {limited on space} I hope these pictures offer a bit of encouragement that it is possible to grow a ton of veggies in a small space.
And, that you don’t have to spend a fortune on it either.
My friend Jen and I both thought this trellis made from mesh fencing was clever. It would be perfect for vines!
Do you have any quick cheap easy trellis ideas? Please share if you do.
Gardening season… We’re nearly there!
~Mavis
Erin says
We had a lot of success using a Yankee trellis. We used old bamboo stalks & twine to make ours. It supported the plants really well by weaving the twine between each stalk every week or so. It also allowed the plants to breathe nicely & made removing the suckers really easy.
Dana says
I thought you had a big truck patch garden and was going to do it again.dana
Amber from Ontario, Canada says
I love to grow heirloom tomatoes, and I grow a lot of them from seed, to save money, and so that I can have the varieties I treasure. I also can a lot of stewed tomatoes, roasted tomatoes, etc. Sometimes I freeze soups and sauces too, so I have no trouble using up all my tomatoes if I grow 30 or 40 plants for myself.I grow back- up plants too in case I lose any to frost, or anything else. Usually I cannot bear to destroy these, so I plant them here and there in my back beds, near the compost cages, and the blackberry patch. I also give a few away. Members in the local Horticultural Society love to trade plants. When we have a plant sale, the hierloom tomatoes are always the first to go! So I cannot grow too many tomatoes here on my quarter acre in small town rural Ontario.
Most of my tomatoes are indeterminate, which means they keep growing and producing until frost, so the vines get tall and heavy. What I have found that works for me is to use large round cages made from fencing wire. I also have a fencing post in the middle, or close to the side. This prevents the cages from tipping over. Some have spikes on the bottom, and some do not. I leave them up all year, which saves me a lot of time and work. It keeps the tomatoes off the ground, and easy to pick. I have lots of space, but I enjoy being organized this way. I grow cucumbers and beans on the same type of cages.
In some areas, like in a narrow row between a back porch facing south, and my driveway, I use tall commercial tomato wire cages, about on third the size of my fencing wire cages. They come in different colours, so I like having purple cages for the purple varieties, black for the black varieties, etc. I do label the plants, or keep a map of what I plant, but I still like having the coloured cages to help quickly find a variety.
When Norm at the local Garden Center found out I was doing this, he smiled, and said I had “Too much time on my hands!” He also says I am the first sign of Spring because I turn up so early to look at everything!
I can’t wait either Mavis!
Happy gardening everyone!