Tips for Growing Tomatoes

In the spirit of the U.S. Composting Council's Million Tomato Compost Campaign, we thought we'd give you some tips on growing your own tomatoes this year. We've collected a few of our favorite tips and tricks to growing big and beautiful tomatoes! Be sure to share any additional tips you might have in the comments.

Location, Location, Location!

Tomatoes love sunshine, so make sure you place them where they can get about 8-10 hours of sunshine a day! However, wind can be detrimental to them if it is too strong, so make sure that it's also an area where they won't get blow away.

Timing

You want to make sure you plant after the risk of frost has abated. Freezing can cause a whole slew of problems for your tomatoes, so it's better to be safe and wait until the risk has gone.

Chose your Type of Tomato Carefully

Certain types of tomatoes flourish, while other wither in specific climates. Find out what kind of tomatoes do best where you are! One way to test it out is to try a couple different kinds of tomatoes your first year planting. There are also many other resources for finding out which ones do best where you live, such as searching online or inquiring at local greenhouses.

Start your soil off right

One great way to ensure your tomatoes flourish as much as possible is to mix in compost with your natural soil prior to planing. This will help fight off diseases, pests, and encourage your tomatoes to grow better (and larger).

Featured Article: Reuse Campaign Signs

Finally, after what feels like a long campaign here in Iowa, the elections are over. Regardless of political afiliation there is something everyone can agree on, campaign signs are very hard to deal with after the election! The mixed use of materials makes them hard to recycle and all the work that goes into making them weatherproof often makes them non-recyclable as well. However, our featured article found a fun way to reuse those old signs- to give you additions for your bike for next spring. Imagine riding down the street with this cool basket:

Now, thanks to your bulky political sign you can! The article we found gives a couple different cool bike additions all made from old campaign signs.

What do you think? Is this a good way to reuse campaign signs? What do you normally do with yours after the election?

Read the full article here.