A Recycle Solution for the Frustrated Tomato Grower
I am a bonafide "Frustrated Tomato Grower" !
I dream of growing prolific tomato harvests. I love to eat tomatoes and would like to grow enough to store.
Problem is ... I live in Arroyo Seco where we have a short growing season. Here, at 7600 feet elevation, nights are cool and tomatoes as you may know like warm soil temperatures.
I have tried a few strategies. Once, I planted tomatoes adjacent to my sunny south facing adobe walls. I logically figured the thermal mass of the wall and the adjacent flagstone walkway was the magic ingredient to creating a warmer night temperature for the soil. Those tomatoes refused to ripen before the deep freeze.
Three subsequent years I planted with walls of water. Maybe 25% ripened.
Another year, I tried a hoop house until the wind promptly flattened the hoops and shredded the plastic.
Last year, I was back to walls of water again. We had a warm Indian summer so I got the best crop yet ... but not enough to save.
I told my husband. "Let's stop pussy footing around and build a green house." We dug the footing and then typical Taos-style: we plain ran out of cash and time.
Now another growing season is upon us. I can't bear to make another hoop house ... I just can't get myself to buy yards and yards of plastic sheeting that I know will eventually decompose by wind and sun get airborne and lifted into our rivers and sea (read our upcoming blog on plastics and the ocean). That plastic shell will only last for a few years at best.
Its mid-May. I am wondering how to transcend past tomato growing failures. What can I do different this year to get a better tomato harvest without a hoop house or greenhouse?
Last week, I related my dilemma to my husband and he shared a friend's success story of abundant tomato harvests with a commercial unit called the Earthbox. So I googled it, when lo and behold I came upon another web link by a couple of teenage brothers, Grant and Max Buster, on their idea of Global Buckets, two buckets on a mission to address malnutrition, http://www.globalbuckets.org/. Their website is very instructional.
Max and Grant Buster's story is an inspiring example of youth leadership in action. I love what they have created. It does involve plastic but this time in the form of solid recycled 5 gallon buckets, of which there are plenty around here. I am going to try it at home and on Rivers & Birds balcony as a demonstration. Maybe you will want to give it a try too. I appreciate the water conservation aspect of their system. They cleverly devised a self watering system. It seems like a solution for a home that does not have easy access to water. My friend Judit and I decided that one could just mulch the top of the soil with straw or gravel to avoid using more plastic. My key to creating a warmer nightime soil temperature - I am going to wheel my tomato buckets indoors most nights. Come by our office to check it out. If you give it a try, I invite you to share your results on our blog here.
I am not sure how practical this is for very poor communities around the world. The trick for those who have no cash is to figure out how to create a light wicking soil with what you have. I ended up following their directions which required one purchase specifice amendments.