dilly dalley doolittle gardening: Tomato bed - lots of growth, flowers, small tomatoes

About

I grow vegetables in an organic community garden in Canberra, Australia. We are characterised by mild winters, with a long frost danger zone, and a short, dry, hot summer. Our natural, unimproved soil is mainly clay, with a shallow (a few centimeters only) topsoil. Drought, frosts and climate change worry me. The peace I feel in the garden inspires me. I also keep a diary, listed as "a weft yarn". It chronicles the things I make in the home.

October 2012

January 07, 2012

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Tomato bed - lots of growth, flowers, small tomatoes

I have two beds with tomatoes, capsicums, and eggplant in them. This, the main bed, is now in early January full of a jungle of tomato plants.

There are trusses of tomatoes. Just starting out. Beautiful.

I use the baling twine from my hay to offer some assistance to these rambunctious plants. They are more like vines than bushes, crawling and falling all over the place.

They will grow roots from any stem that falls to the ground. This is probably a good thing, allowing more nutrients into the plant, but it does make it difficult to harvest and when I've been particularly free form with my plants, I've sometimes lost the path between the beds. Some restraint is necessary.