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Sunday, January 12, 2014

*~*~*My Design Tomato Trellis - Tutorial*~*~*

Well, I don't know how right on it I was,
but I did get most of my tomato trellis made.
Being very human,
I mis-calculated and ended up one stick short.
So tomorrow,
I will go get one more 1X2.
Requirements: 8 or 9 1X2s (at least 8:)
and 4-6 hinges
wood screws (about 1 inch)

You will end up with:
8 each = 5ft. 1X2s
4 each = 1ft. 1X2s
4 each = 2ft. 1X2s
4 each = 17inch 1X2 or scrap strip
4 each = 21inch 1X2 or scrap strip
Here's what I did.







I started by getting some boards cut to the right lengths.
This is not all of them,
just a sampling:)

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You could seal your boards
before you assemble the project.
I will wait until
it is all put together,
because, I like to seal up
those screw holes.
After doing this the difficult way,
I drew a line 5 feet long then
on the top and bottom board,
I marked the center and lined the mark up
with the line so that there were no
'weird' angles, and it was square.
Working with finer pieces of wood like this,
it's very important to pre-drill your holes.
At the corners, it is also important to put 2 screws
so that the piece is sturdy and 
does not rock.
I then used some scrap pieces I had
left over from another project to add rungs.
These were only about 1X1s so I only used
one screw on them.
You will need to repeat this 3 more times
so that you have 4 pieces like this. (ladders)
Once you have all of your 'ladder' pieces,
flip them so they are rung side down
and the long 5 ft pieces are on top.
I will be using 3 hinges but only had 2 on hand.
Place hinges appropriately.
(top, middle, and bottom)
Screw them in place making sure
that they fold up as they are laying this way.
-otherwise the rungs will be in the way-

Then you can stand them up.
They should be pretty sturdy.

This is only 2 of the 4 sides.
As I said earlier,
I was 1 board short.

I will just use jute to tie
two of these sections together
in order to use them.

At these deminsions,
5 feet tall
1 foot across at top,
and 2 feet across at bottom,
it is sound
and should not tip over.

If needed, I can use
tent stakes as tie downs
-if the tomatoes get that big.-

I plan on prunning them 
if they get over 5 feet tall
so that their energy
will go into making fruit
rather than leaves.

If the plant needs more support,
I can use jute to string
across from one side to the other.
I didn't want so much wood
that it blocked the light.


The reason I am making them
with only two sections
is that they fold flat
for winter time storage.

Those round metal ones
drive me crazy.  They are never
strong enough, and 
always seem to be in the way.

By using scraps for the 
middle supports,
I ended up with some
3 foot drops.
I am hoping to make
something similar
but 3 feet tall for
my cucumbers.

The other thing I took into
consideration was
access to the tomatoes.

Maybe I'm a little lazy,
but I like to be able to
get to those ripe ones
without having to do too 
much digging.

Our seed order arrived yesterday.
Now we just have to have
patience for a couple more months.

Having a project helps point my
focus somewhere other than
just the growing part of gardening
as it snows outside!

You don't need a lot of room
to grow some of your own food.  
You could even set this over a potted plant.
Keep warm and safe, and I hope this inspires you.  

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

5 comments:

  1. well done and I can just picture the trellis full of tasty tomatoes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love your tomato trellis ! I have honestly "had it" with those flimsy metal tomato cages. They aren't tall or wide enough ! Very wonderful idea ;)
    Rose

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks great! You Rock, girl!
    My M-I-law has had a few 4 foot square gardens and I am always amazed at how much food she is able to grow! I want to do that this summer. I will try to follow your example and get on some of that! First, I am painting furniture for my bedroom!
    hugs,
    Betsy

    ReplyDelete
  4. I really enjoyed your tutorial on the Tomato Trellis. This is a perfect winter project. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

    ReplyDelete