For a short period of time I lived near Ashland, TN, picking tomatoes all day long on a 4 acre plot. When the job was done I moved back to my home state of Missouri and dropped in to visit my little brother. He was living in a small cabin in the woods.
Upon arriving to his house I was amazed to see he had tomatoes growing from the bottoms of buckets he had hung under the eaves around his cabin. The tomato plants were growing out of 1 inch holes he had drilled out of the bottom of the bucket.
He had threaded the plants through the holes, secured the plant with pieces of moss, and filled the buckets with dirt, then mulched the top. He hung the buckets by the bails up high. The leaves merely turned themselves right-side up to catch the sun.
Fascinated with his idea, the next year I planted my tomato plant upside-down and hung it outside my kitchen window, next to a planter full of lettuce. I literally didn't have to leave my kitchen to pick a fresh salad.
The advantages of upside-down tomatoes are several. Deer, and other animals can't reach them easily. Most insects won't climb up onto the roof to jump into the bucket. Watering and fertilizing was minimal, no need to stake and most importantly, NO WEEDING.
Given the choice between the hot work of picking tomatoes in the field, or picking them off the house, I choose the later. I plant my tomatoes in a bucket, through the hole in the bucket, and will always use a bucket.
Now I'm off to South Texas to try to pay for my play time.
Check y'all later.
