Tomatoes never taste better than fresh from the vine. They are wonderful in salad or in a simple but delicious tomato bisque soup recipe like this. The good news is that it is very simple to grow your own tomatoes, even if you don’t have a garden. These little fruits (yes, they are fruits, not vegetables) flourish just fine in a large pot.
Start with some seedlings. If this is your first time growing tomatoes, I recommend you get some at your local nursery. Most of them now have quite a good selection of tomato varieties in stock. Just pick one or two that are fairly easy to grow. After you have a few tomato growing seasons under your belt, you may want to try your hand at growing tomatoes from seeds. The advantage is that you have a much larger selection of tomato plants to choose from and it is fun to grow some more unusual and herloom tomatoes. You do have to start them during the winter months and keep them inside for a while.
Tomatoes need quite a bit of soil and space. Choose the biggest planter you have room for outside. Ideally you want one that can hold at least 30 gallons of soil. Smaller pots will work as well, but your tomato plant will be smaller and you will end up with less tomatoes. Plastic garbage cans make good tomato growing planters.
Before you start adding soil, you want to make sure that the soil can drain properly. If the water can not get out, the roots of your plants will start to rot. Start by drilling several drain holes into the bottom of your container. Then add a layer of rocks, gravel or even pottery shards. Next, top it off with good planting soil and plant your tomato plant. Give it a good watering and move it outside.
Tomatoes like a good bit of water, be sure to water them daily. As your little tomato plant starts to grow, it will need a bit of support. A thin stick or dowel works well. Use some twine to losely tie the stalk of your tomato plant to the support. After that it’s just a matter of letting the tomato plant grow. With plenty of sunshine and water you will have a good tomato harvest in no time.
Vine ripened tomatoes fresh from your little container garden are delicious in salads or just on their own. We also really like this fresh tomato pie recipe. If you have a rather large harvest, make some of this tomato soup from scratch and freeze it to use later in the fall.
I hope you will give growing your own tomatoes a try, be it in a container as discussed in this article or in a ltitle (or big) garden patch.
