A previous post reminded me of a good tip. At the end of the gardening season I would have these huge dead tomatoe plants firmly tangled into wire tomato cages. Trying to cut these out is a major pain. Got frustrated on day....just piled em in the middle of the garden and set fire to them. Didn't hurt the supports, probably added a bit of potash and distroyed any bugs that might have had ideas on spending the winter in the vines. I know a lot of folks would say to compost them but they are so woody at that point I never bothered with it even when I did cut them out of the cages. Oh and the best tomatoe cages you will ever have are made out of concrete reinfocement wire. Strong and they last forever. Can ya'll tell I'm ready for spring! Hard to think about a garden with so much white stuff covering the ground though.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), January 02, 2001

Answers

I found another great "cage" to use for tomatoes. Am preparing to use them this year... A major department store in my area went out of business and left all their "fixtures." You know, the shelving units and stuff? Well, anyway, part of the fixtures are heavy grating for clothes to hang off of. Got a bunch for tomato cages and plan to set up some of the actual units for pea and bean vines...could be used for gourds and cucumbers, etc. Have a good garden year!

-- Gailann Schrader (gtschrader@aol.com), January 08, 2001.

We're all ready for spring!!

-- Ardie in WI (a6203@hotmail.com), January 08, 2001.