There are a lot of what I like to call "displaced farmers" in our community, couples who are retired from farming and have moved into town, to smaller "more manageable" properties. Many displaced farmers not only miss their crops and equipment, but they also miss that little garden patch in the backyard. They miss walking outside and picking the produce for supper. They miss watching a plant grow and succeed. And so they start a "city garden" or container garden or grow something, anything.
And that is why we sell hanging baskets of tomatoes. It's one thing to come to the Farmers Market and get fresh picked tomatoes. It's something else completely to grow your own in your back yard. Last year was our first year selling hanging baskets and potted tomatoes. Not only did they sell well, but they produced well, too. We loved hearing the weekly reports from our customers, telling how many tomatoes they got off their basket that week.
Each of our hanging baskets contains two cherry tomato plants, one producing red cherry tomatoes and the other producing yellow tomatoes.
We hardened the plants before selling, to make sure they were strong. We made the potting soil ourselves, to save money but also to make sure it would hold moisture. That way, if someone forgot to water their plant for a day or two, it would still survive. And we kept a few ourselves, to monitor the successes or failures.
The picture below was taken in December.
Yes, it was still producing cherry tomatoes through the winter. That same basket is also the high basket in the picture below. If that plant can produce from August to December hanging in our basement, imagine what one of the hanging baskets could do in the spring/summer?
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