Off the Ground!

[zabby17]

Finally got the last of the plants staked up!

The last bed, done today, was definitely overdue---they were heavy enough and intertwined enough that I managed to break a nice branch off a Portugal and another half of one off a Principe Borghese.

I can never quite believe, when I tie up the first few plants, too short to really need it yet, how long it will take me to get around to doing them all (about a month, this year, which is better than some years---I'm embarrassed to say it happened once that it's happened a few don't get up till August---yes, I lose more branches---and one year the cherries never did get staked up, and I was digging around in the jungle on the ground for them).

Most of my stakes are 8-foot bamboo, some of which are now ten years old; I've had to discard a few that split or broke lately, and I invested in 20 new ones made of rebar. While it's pricier, I figure they'll last forever! I painted 'em black.

The guy at the hardware store couldn't believe what I was going to use them for. "You got tomatoes that tall?" I told him my cherry toms were already staked with 10-foot rebar stakes bought several years ago, and often overshot them.

Now I'll have to bring him some tomatoes, of course.... ;-p

Z