Corn Crib Cage Helps Grow Tomatoes

Corn Crib Cage Helps Grow Tomatoes An old wire corn crib serves as a giant tomato cage for Gary Griesse and his wife The wire sides are mounted on a steel frame that mounts on a 3-pt hitch and is hung with 30 heavy-duty tomato cages and a watering system “We raise about 30 tomato plants a year Our cages are 6 ft high and 30 in in dia and are made from concrete reinforcement mesh ” says Griesse “I’m getting too old to carry 30 cages and steel posts to the garden each spring Dragging a hundred feet of garden hose up and down the rows in dry years isn’t any fun either ” The big wire cage had previously been used to graze turkeys on pasture “I made clips for my tomato cages so I can attach them to the big cage and move everything to storage at once ” he says “The individual cages mount inside and outside of the big cage ” Rotating tomato beds is a breeze This spring he picked the big “tomato dome” with a tractor 3-pt and moved it to fresh soil Watering is easy with a soaker hose laid in a circle between the plants “Last year the weather in our area turned dry and everybody complained about a poor tomato crop ” says Griesse “Our tomato dome was always humid with its concentration of plants We raise about 9 indeterminate varieties common varieties and several heirlooms All of them did well with some yielding close to a bushel of fruit per plant We had one 12-ft tall cherry tomato plant that grew over the top of the cage ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gary Griesse P O Box 212 Harrisburg S Dak 57032 ph 605 743-2613; greaseman1952@gmail

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