Breaking News: Sean's Tomatoes 'Doing Well'

Last summer was our first summer as homeowners.

We were lucky enough to have a 100 square foot raised bed at the back of our yard, which appeared to get decent sun. We planted tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs. The tomato and cucumber plants grew very well, but the amount of edibles they yielded was underwhelming. The spring/early summer sun was good back there, but after all of the trees that surround our yard filled in with lush foliage there was only full sun a couple times each day. Mostly it was mottled sunlight.

Fast forward to this spring.

We still had hopes for our raised bed, but we weren't gonna put all of our eggs in one basket. We planted a few tomato plants in one area that we felt would get a bit more than others, cukes in a north/south pattern as opposed to east/west. We're trying some green beans as well. We also acquired six 6-gallon buckets to try our hand at "container gardening." We had heard that tomatoes can do especially well in containers, so we filled them up with fresh compost from the free Ferndale dirt pile behind the Ferndale High School and plopped them right in our front yard.

While they were smaller, we were able to experiment with different spots in the yard and I am happy to report that they're doing exceptionally well. Tomato plants suck up a lot of water and nutrients from the soil they're in, so having fresh compost and no drainage holes is working miracles.

So, if you're interested in planting tomatoes next year remember this: Big containers, fresh compost, no drainage, water one to two times per day depending on the heat. I've posted pictures that compare the ones in our back yard and our front yard. The difference is striking.

As for our cucumbers, changing the orientation of the chicken wire they grow on seems to be working great. There are dozens of flowers on it now, which will turn into delicious little kirby cukes. As for the beans - the jury is still out on them.

Happy gardening!