If you are planting tomatoes in the garden you will also want to create your own tomato cages to help support the plants as they grow. The reason tomato cages are used is as they mature they become very top heavy with many arms growing off of the plant and then with the addition of the tomatoes themselves growing in, the top can start to pull the plant downward. The goal of the tomato cages is to support all of the upper body and the arms as the tomatoes grow in. This helps ensure you get a healthier crop and are very easy to build on your own. Once built, you can reuse your own tomato cages each year to save money and time.

• To get started in building your own tomato cages you need a wire mesh roll, wire cutters and pliers.
• Roll out two to four feet of mesh and clip it free from the rest of the roll
• Take the ends and using your pliers bend in the metal from each edge to connect the ends forming a circle out of the metal
• Now place a steak in the ground along the stem of your plant and hammer it gently into the ground
• Lower your circle of mesh around the plant
• Use string to secure the plant to the steak and the tomato cage as needed

These are very simple to create and each year you can store them off as they are or undo where you connected the tomato cages so that they lie flat and can be piled for easier storage.

Many apartment dwellers or home owners in the city battle over space when it comes to gardening and having room for their plants. Window boxes are an easy solution to this problem and in my opinion a must for anyone trying to live self sufficiently within the city limits.

Window boxes provide space where no space is naturally available. We all have windows in our houses now image if we could plant a handful of flowers or vegetables wherever we have those windows. It creates space where so many give up since they do not have any! You can grow tomato plants, peppers, and any herb you could want inside window boxes.

This tiny garden of its own can provide for you and help you cut down on your monthly grocery expenses by saving money on fresh produce and herbs within a few months. The window boxes also help someone interested in gardening but not quite ready to fully commit to large garden and is worried about the maintenance that comes with the territory. Window boxes are self contained and can be used one year and if it is decided it was too much hassle can be discarded without any evidence it was ever there. If you enjoyed the window box you can try adding a second one in the next season and so forth.

Too often people are deterred from trying to live self sufficient because they think it is only for those who live out of a community. Window boxes is another example of how anyone living anywhere can at least live a little self sufficient.