Update on My Upside Down Tomatoes

I have my tomato plants hanging right outside my back door on the patio. In the mornings, I go and check on them. Call me strange, but I like to smell the leaves. It reminds me of my grandma's and the large gardens she used to have.

The plants are starting to outgrow their containers, and we are going to transplant them into five gallon containers. We will cut them the same way we cut out the jugs...with a hole in the bottom and insert the plant in the bottom upside down. Then we will fill the container with more soil.

The great thing about using a five gallon container is there is enough room at the top to plant something else if you wish...I'm not sure what I'll plant yet and will have to do some additional research.

I'm actually going to pick up my containers today. I posted on our local freecycle and a couple of people have some five gallon containers that I can have...nice. If you are not familiar with freecycle..you have to check it out. It's a great way to give away some things that you no longer need and use and pick up things that you can use. Click here to find a freecycle group in your area.

Also, for free containers, you can check the following:
Walmart Bakery (frostings come in these containers)
Burger King (pickle containers - just ask them)
Local Chinese Restaurants
Local Bakeries

Just remember to clean them thoroughly before use.

I'm off to do some baking. I have a friend coming into town tomorrow, so I'm doing my baking early.

Have a blessed Tuesday!

Upside Down Tomatoes

I'm going to be running around today trying to get things done. We leave on a mini-vacation (2days) tomorrow. Even though it is short, it will be nice to just get away for a bit.

I'll be doing some short posts throughout the day (I hope)..if I don't get to them, I'm sorry.

Anyway....

Have you ever seen those commercial for Topsy Turvy Tomato Planters. You know, those are the ones where you can plant the tomatoes upside down.

My husband has been fascinated with doing that. Last time the commercial came on we watched it. They went thru the spill talking to people who owned them, how easy it was and how abundant the tomatoes were. My husband was all set to place his order....that is until they showed the PRICE. On TV it was 2 payments of, get this, $19.99!!! But wait, you get not one Topsy Turvy, but two! Still $19.99 for each was ridiculous.

I guess the frugal side of me is starting to rub off on my husband because he decided there was no way he was going to pay that. He went online and found how to make the same thing out of milk jugs. You can also do it with large plastic containers.

But since I had been saving my milk jugs anyway, he fashioned some hanging containers out of them. I only had 1/2 gallon containers. I imagine that when the tomatoes get larger, we can transplant them.

It was easy to make. Just cut off the top portion of your jug, then cut a small square at the bottom. Insert your tomato plants upside down thru the bottom after filling the jug with your "dirt". Hang and water as necessary.

Your tomatoes plants will start to grow upward, but when they start producing tomatoes, gravity will take effect and they will hang back down.

We only have two plants right now...we'll see how it goes and maybe add more. I know you can do it with cucumbers and peppers too!!

Monday Madness and......A Recipe!

My husband and I went garden shopping yesterday. He had seen the "topsy turvy" commercial on T.V. You know..those are the things that you use to grow your tomatoes upside down. He was really wanting one, but was shocked at the price.

I guess I am rubbing off on him because he went online and found out how to make his own using milk jugs. So, off we went to get some tomato plants. We also bought two strawberry plants (Blake loves to grow strawberries) and I bought a pineapple sage plant. You can't believe how wonderful it smells ---- just like a pineapple!!

We also bought some flowers and some window boxes. I have always wanted to put window boxes up out front. We couldn't do it at our last house because the windows went almost all the way to the ground.

We found some boxes for $7.00 each. We finally got them planted and hung today. They look so beautiful. My husband did such a great job hanging them. I planted potato vines, red petunias, verbena and dianthus.

I'm glad my husband felt o.k. to do it today as he had a dentist appointment to get a tooth pulled. Long story short, it didn't get pulled....they deadened his mouth, but the spot where the tooth was would not get numb enough for them to pull the tooth. So off we went to get more antibiotics and hopefully he will be able to get it pulled next week.

On another note, I found someone who would barter eggs in exchange for my homemade baked goods. I took some to her today with a list of things that I have available, and she emailed me saying that she has co-workers that want to order some goodies from me! Whoohoo! I was hoping that somewhere down the line, I might be able to make a little with my baking.

Here's a recipe for the day courtesy of Candy at www.keepingthehome.com

I changed mine around a little bit:

BAKED FRENCH TOAST

12 slices of bread ( I use the white potato bread)
1 1/2 cups of milk
4 eggs
1/3 cups maple syrup (I have used pancake syrup)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, and then mix in the milk, syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon.
2. Butter a 9x11 baking pan
3. Place 5 or 6 slices of bread in the pan, and pour 1/2 of the mixture on top of the bread.
4. Place 5 or 6 more slices of bread on top of the other slices, and pour the rest of the mixture on top.
5. Cover the pan over with plastic wrap, and put the pan into the fridge overnight.
6. The next morning, remove the plastic wrap and cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. You will not believe how amazing this smells when baking.