In the portion of my garden that doesn't have raised beds, I plan to build a Japanese Tomato Ring and grow my biggest tomato varieties with it. I can't show the real thing yet, but here is what it looks like on my excel plan.
A Japanese Tomato Ring is basically a big circle of fence that you fill with compost and then grow tomatoes on the outside. My ring will probably just be chicken wire, although it is best if the wire can be five foot tall.
I will only fill the bottom foot or so with rich organic matter and maybe some finished compost. Then as the tomato plants grow, I will add more material to the compost ring. Of course, I'll tie the plants to the outside of the ring as they grow and prune them to a central stem.
I will keep the compost inside the ring well watered. This will greatly help the tomato plants by giving them a continuous supply of water and rich organic matter. Hopefully that will help the tomatoes grow bigger as well so I'm growing my giant tomato varieties on the ring. The tomatoes on my ring will be Big Zac, Omar's Lebanese, Jerry's German Giant, Delicious and Ultimate Giant.
The Japanese Tomato Ring is not a new idea. It appeared in Organic Gardening Magazine in June, 1976. I first read about it in Mike McGrath's, The Best of Organic Gardening
I love this book and have used many ideas from it. I probably own over a hundred gardening books and "The Best of Organic gardening" is one of my top 25 favorites.
I can't wait to get the Japanese Tomato Ring built and the tomato plants underway. I just wish it would stop raining!
Happy Tomato Tuesday!
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