[JustaDumbBlonde]

"Aren’t those feedlot panels? Do you use them for tomatoes?"

Yes, they are feedlot panels ... we call them cattle panels in our neck of the woods. They make a very sturdy trellis when you brace them with 1/2" rebar that is driven about 2' deep.

I do not use them for tomatoes. I grow anything that creeps and crawls on a trellis. Cukes, spaghetti and butternut squash, I even grew canteloupes on the trellis last year. Here are some pics:

I stake my tomatoes with 3/8" rebar. All of the rebar and cattle panels are used from year-to-year. The initial expense seems high, but these things will last until they plant me ;-)

[texanyankee]

Wow...those are some nice looking cantaloupes. I wish we had the space to grow cantaloupes. I figured the most I could spare in our backlot without too much shading affect from the large trees, is a 18’x 32’ area.

[who knows what evil?]

How do you employ the rebar to stake your tomatoes? It is REAL windy in my neighborhood, and I would like to find something sturdier than traditional staking systems...

[Black Agnes]

Envymaking trellising.

You’ve given me ideas.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

‘Bout time you got here!! :)

[afraidfortherepublic]

I’ve got a fairly large patch of grass/pasture weeds to dig out to accommodate my corn patch. I’m not looking forward to the job. Looking at Just a Dumb Blonde’s gorgeous plantings, it gives me an idea. I’m looking for suggestions and am open to anything that will save me a day of digging.
I have a Mantis tiller, for information’s sake.

I’m going to raise the bed where my corn will be about 6-8 inches, surrounded by landscape timbers. What if I covered the weedy grass (my husband says to burn it first — yes/no?) with weed cloth, or newspaper, and cut an x everywhere I’m going to put a corn mound. Then I pile my soil additives on top of the weed cloth, or newspaper and plant my seeds, or started seeds, there. Would the roots of the corn, etc. work their way down through the matted grass into the soil with such a method? Woudl the weed cloth and/or newspaper layer stop most of the weeds from come back up? Would the corn, beans, squash get enough nutrients (supplemented by lots of manure and other fertilizer) to grow and produce?

A lot of the farmers around here get paid for “no till”. So do I really have to till?

[StopBigGovt]

Wow, I’m jealous....you have a really green thumb! Great garden, and I wish we could plant melons and butternut squash. :)