Veggie Tales

Back in May, we bought 2 Topsy Turvy planters and planted tomatoes in one and cucumbers in the other.  I had done some research on these prior to purchase, and we saw that we could grow something besides tomatoes in them, so we decided to give it a try.   They were not difficult to assemble, but are a little easier if you have two people.  We first hung them both on our shepherd's hook in the back yard, but the vines quickly grew to the point where they were brushing the ground, so we had to make other arrangements.  Our neighbor suggested that we hang them from the swing set, so we tried that next.

I apologize for the quality of this picture, but you get the idea.  This is our tomato Topsy Turvy.  It is really amazing how quickly vegetables grow with this thing.  I have never had a garden, but the website says that vegetables are ready 4 weeks earlier compared to growing them in your garden.  It just seemed like one of the cucumbers would grow overnight, especially when a decent rain passed through (not often). 

Our first tomatoes started to appear before we moved the vines to the swing set.  This was very exciting, and of course Seth wanted to pick them immediately.  One thing about the Topsy Turvy is that you need to water it ALOT.  We have had a few 90 degree plus days recently and we have watered the plants in the morning and late in the afternoon.  Because the Topsy Turvy is not in the ground, it does not hold moisture for long.    Here are a few more pictures of the tomato and cucumber vines before the first crop was picked.

And here is our successful crop.  So far we have gotten 3 cucumbers and 1 tomato, but we feel it is early yet.  We are looking forward to enjoying the fruits of our labor, and saving a little bit of money on summer vegetables.  Who knows, next year we may try some peppers and squash!