More tomatoes than you can eat—yayy!!! I’m certain that your neighbors and local churches would be happy to relieve you of the extra produce. (Our minister came right over and picked up our extra squash and bean plants started from seed, and it it a total gas to help to sustain the community!) One question: can you reuse those fabric bags after the first season?
Yes, use them over and over. Perhaps you read my post that I have ordered more five gallon ones since I think that is the most useful. For a root food, the bag needs to be deeper than a five gallon. I have sweet potatoes in a ten gallon one. I put the potting soil mix in that one, planted the potatoes and carried it myself to the middle of the garden so I can pick that one up with ten gallons in it and it didn't kill me.
The Dirt Bag brand is cheaper than the other one on Amazon. Put “Dirt Bag” in search there and you'll see all the sizes. Note the straps don't start on bags until the five gallon one. Then, the really larger ones, like that ten gallon, does not have straps.
I have large containers by Hydrofarm to place on the deck and grow tomatoes and plants that need a lattice. Here they are on Amazon at the link below. I'll have a couple of large size tomatoes in one of these for fall.
Because I don't know what I'm doing, I'm not doing a huge amount of anything - but doing enough to find out if container gardening this way will work.
When it rains or when you water, the excess water will automatically drain out of the Dirt Bag.
The big containers are watered from the side and the water goes into the bottom and is wicked up to the plant roots as there is a gizmo in the bottom of that container to make it work that way. It says you don't have to water plants as often this way. I'll know how that works later when I get tomato plants in there.
Here is the link to the large containers:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NBZDNG/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Here’s the thing: I need to grow food but my body cannot bend over more than three times or I likely can’t walk the next day due to the pain in the lower back. Plus, I think there are more plant problems and work if the plants are in the ground and I’m not dealing with the ground since that is way down from me and I’m not going down there.
If I need to deal with a plant that is in a bag sitting in the garden, I pick up the bag and put it on a table and deal with it and put it back.
I can deal with the big containers on the deck just by sitting in a comfortable padded chair beside the container and do it if it required me to be down to the container. The containers have wheels on one side and a handle on the other side so I can easily move the containers around the deck.
I’ve also got bird netting to put over the bags in the garden and netting to put over the ones on the deck.
Today, I saw a big, fat cardinal eating the insides out of one of my tomatoes. I chased him away and had to pitch the tomato. That won’t happen when I get this new set up going. I’ve said before I’m sick of my seeds getting murdered by squirrels and birds and I surely don’t want them murdering the ripe tomatoes.
I will get control of that garden with the right heirloom foods growing. It’s either the squirrels, birds, or garden I can’t do, or it’s ME with a better set up I can make produce. I own that property and those squirrels and birds do not and I can make that outside work for me.