Ohmystinkinheck

In case there is any confusion, these are not part of a new coconut bra collection for the Summer. Indeed, they could never “fill” the position. Go ahead, laugh…you know you want to.

These are my hanging baskets complete with coconut liners.

I’m told the coconut liners will help retain moisture. I feel a kindred spirit with these coconut liners as I also retain moisture.

Upon purchasing said coconut bras liners, Mr. OMSH failed to notice one thing. Can you figure it out? Here’s a hint…I’m using these to plant upside down tomatoes

Did you figure it out?

Do you give up?

THERE IS NO HOLE. As in, no place to shove the tomato plant through - y’know, the WHOLE PURPOSE of this adventure in upside-down vegetable gardening?

Of course, you’ll hardly hear me complain about it since he did take THREE poorly behaved children to Home Depot so I could finish up some hours for a client. He could have come home with completely solid, non-coconut lined buckets and I wouldn’t have said a thing.

Okay, maybe ONE THING, but not a lot of things.

The key is to improvise. We are REALLY GOOD at making “do” and improvising.

Case in point.

“Hello, my name is Jim Rigg.”

Don’t you worry your pretty little head, Mr. OMSH smoothed out all the rough edges.

He’s really good at *ahem* smoothing out the rough edges.

By the way, in that previous picture? Fake Crocs. Don’t judge him for his Wal*mart Crocs - they were only $5.00 after all.

So obviously we are going to plant more than just tomatoes. I mean, THAT would be boring. I read that Lavender, Lemon Balm and Mint are great to plant. Oh, and Marigolds-but they stink.

This is mint.

I knew it was mint cuz Ms. Bonnie told me so.

This is Lemon Balm.

It’s looking a bit sick, but it smells lovely. I’m glad it smells lovely, because other than smelling it, I’ve yet to figure out what else I can do with it.

While Mr. OMSH was filing away all the metal bits, I was making slits in the coconut liners.

Yes, I realize it is not normal that I enjoyed this so much.

“Look Mom! I can grow FINGERS!”

You should have seen Emelie’s face. If her face could talk it would have said, “Mom, who’s raising who here?”

And now…

Taddah! The final product!

Yes, I realized I left out about 5 steps, but PEOPLE…there are no less than 1 trillion sites on Google that will tell you EXACTLY how to do this and my hands were dirty-I didn’t want to touch my camera.

See how the tomato plant hangs out the bottom?

In case you were curious - that’s why they call it an upside down tomato plant. I know, I’m quick like that.

We planted lavender in this one, and…

…lemon balm and mint in the top of this one.

OH! I almost forgot to tell you what kind of tomatoes I bought. Um…Cherry and Giant “something-or-anothers”.

Stop staring-you’ll totally embarrass her.

I can even see them from outside my breakfast room–which is good with the way our summers heat up around here.

There was more planting. The blueberry trees went in and the cages went up around them to protect what little crop we have from deviant birds who think I’m gonna share. Um, NOT.

I love saying “NOT!” - it takes me right back to highschool and I feel young again. Which, of course, is important with my 36th birthday right around the stinkin’ corner.

33 Responses to “I spell it tomato, you spell it tomatoe…”

1. bethany actually

   Marigolds don’t stink! Take that back! Marigolds and petunias are the scents of my childhood. For years those were the only flowers my dad ever planted in the front garden, because they’re hard to kill and if you just water them faithfully they explode with blooms and color.

   But I will concede that the lavender, mint, and lemon balm were good choices. ;-)

2. naomi

   that is so totally cool! someday i’m going to try that.

   a trick i learnt from a gardener is how to drought resist your tomatoes. when you plant them, instead of digging a hole straight down, dig a trench. peel off the leaves until you have about 2″ of tomato leaves at the top leaving the growth tip intact. lay the entire stem up to the bottom of the 2″ of stem into the trench. cover the trench with dirt and bend the stem so the 2″ are above ground. if you have problems with pests you can wrap a paper collar around the place where the stem goes into the dirt. water in and grow as usual.

   this process gives the tomato more root area to pick water up. it was ideal for up here where we are frequently inflicted with low rainfall.

3. seven

   Those are too cute… much prettier than the ones in 5-gallon pails. I love that you planted stuff in the tops too… that makes them useful and beautiful.

4. RebelRescuer

   They’re like tomatoes with a hangover. You know, hanging out around the bottom of the pot. Har.

5. Elizabeth

   They’re gorgeous!!!

6. LaurenC

   I’m gonna plant me some upside down tomatos….but I will of course wait until this stupid southern hemisphere winter is done.
   And of course, by then I will be able to see your results and know if it works well. Yay!

7. Leigh

   Wow! You’ve almost inspired me to go out and plant something - anything! But that would mean I’d actually have to go outside in this nasty, hot, and humid mess.

8. Marsha

   I really hate to rain on your parade, but I think you may end up with too many roots for your pots. I think that was the idea behind the 5 gallon pails - lots of room for roots. :/

9. beth

   I think they are beautiful! My Mom put petunias in her upside down tomato plants, but I bet basil would do well also. Basil & tomatoes are great friends - basil keeps pesky worms and such away.

   They’re much prettier than the ones in my garden! But I prefer to stick mine in the ground… til maybe next year.

10. Starwoodgal

    That’s an awesome idea! We’ve been planting tomaotoes in bermuda hay bales (cut a hole in bale, add dirt, plant, water, Go!) Which is easy but not dog friendly. I’m going to give this a try this year. Thanks!

11. mary

    OK that looks super cool!

12. Mandy

    So totally cool. (that’s what takes me back to high school, like totally) I have a birthday comin up soon too. When’s yours?

13. OMSH

    bethany actually - I will most likely plant marigolds in my garden as everything I read said marigolds are our friends. We want to do a pumpkin patch in the Fall for all my Sunday School kids to come over for a pumpkin carving.

    naomi - I’m gonna have to read that a few more times. Okay, 10 more times, but I KNOW I’ll get it eventually. *wink*

    seven and Elizabeth - Thanks ladies!

    RebelRescuer - Bwahahaha. I’m ashamed to admit I had to read that twice to “get” it. My excuse? It’s Monday.

    Marsha - Alas, it is an experiment, so if I get a bit too root-y, I’ll learn. BUT I have seen a good deal of these online that have done really well done exactly like I’ve done them, so I’m still crossing my fingers (and eyes too, for good measure).

    beth - Thank you. Oooooh, petunias. And yes, I read about Basil and tomatoes too. I’m going to have an herb garden under my back kitchen window near my chicken run (but far enough where they won’t eat it all) so, I decided to try something different in these pots.

    Starwoodgal - I SAW SOME OF THOSE online - why are they not dog friendly?

    Must take children to school.
    Where is my coffee?

14. rachel

    Too fun! Love the pictures. I’ll have to try this next year.

15. Kristin

    wow! They are sooooooo much more purdy than those 5-gallon bucket ones. ::said with a southern twang::
    I never thought to plant a different plant on the top side. Keep us posted as to how they are growing. :)

16. Natalie

    My husband saw something about this on too-late TV… he was very excited about the prospect. The result is cool and it also makes me grin thinking how the tomato plant might be getting a head rush. I am dorky enough that I was imagining a sympathetic upside-down head rush kind of feeling!

17. Chris

    Great plantings!

    Do be cautious with lemon balm. I planted it (also with no clue what to do with it) and it has invaded the garden. I still have nothing to use it for and it keeps spreading and taking over.

    If you figure out something to do with it, do share!

18. Linda

    I’ll try to get pictures posted soon of my upside down tomato plant! Stasha has made fun of me ever since I planted it … BUT ended up asking if I thought cucumbers would grow upside down too. I may try that next year … as well as bell peppers.

19. Christie

    My heart skipped a beat when I saw your photos - no, not the upside down tomatoes, but the right-side-up lavender plants. Could you tell me exactly what is printed on that label? I’m almost positive that I’ve been enjoying the same plant as a hosueplant for the past year, but it was recently smashed to bits when my two-year-old fell on it. It doesn’t look like the lavender plants I’m familiar with, but I have no idea what it’s proper name might be. I’d be so grateful for any help! My four-year-old promised to find me a new one for my birthday, but she hasn’t had much luck.

20. Mim

    You can steep the lemon balm leaves to make a lemon flavored tea. I have some planted in a bed, they are a perenial here. It can become very invasive when planted in the ground. So, can mint. Good thing you put them in a container. Or maybe it’s not a problem for you in the Texas heat.

21. RebelRescuer

    Tomato leaves and stems are really toxic to dogs and cats. Just keep Rover and Morris away from them. :-)

22. Amanda

    What a neat idea! Upside down tomatoes- who knew?! And I LOVE lavender! It smells heavenly!

    I’m glad you had so much fun with this project.

23. Shannon

    I planted my tomato plants this weekend and I planted my veggie garden. We did have monsoon season here in Missouri so I had to wait for that to stop.
    Lavender plated by your garden gate brings you luck, pagan tradition.

24. witchypoo

    Anyplant with balm in the name is relaxing. You can make an infusion of lemon balm by squeezing a good handful of the leaves into a knee-high and using it as a giant tea bag in a lovely bath. Or you can drink some tea. The lemon flavour compliments many dishes, such as fish.

25. Dad

    Heather, sorry … Mrs. OMSH, great idea for getting really bright red tomatoes. When I stand on my head my face gets red too!

26. Vicki

    Seems like the upside down tomatoes might be really inaccessible to squirrels, if you had a problem with them. Last year my tomatoes didn’t do great, but the few that grew all had big squirrel bites taken out of them. And my garden’s fenced.

27. Just Beachy

    How nifty cool! I love lemon balm as well. it’s nice to stick in with your tea (if you like lemon in you tea) just steep some like you would mint in with your tea bags. Also, Marigolds. They are good for the garden, cept spider mites love them and well whatever marigolds are good for does not outway the spider mites that cover them and then all your other plants as well. And, also again, The Blueberries. Some friends of our here in Florida have a blueberry orchard…very fun day outing by the way, picking blueberries. Just wanted to give you a heads up that you need at least two different varieties of blueberries to get them to produce. She had three. The whole cross pollination thing. I love gardening, it’s a great way to relax.

28. Capturing Today

    Looks lovely! Marigolds are great at fending off unwanted garden bugs, so we always plant some. And a trick for keeping your mint plants (they are weeds, actually) from invading is to bury a coffee can and plan them in the can - it keeps the roots from expanding and taking over - at least it worked for us!

    I can’t wait to see how these turn out!

29. nursebettylboop

    Great looking plants! I love the idea of the ground-cover plants on the top…it’ll keep the soil more moist then if it were exposed to the sunshine.

    Here are some pics of what Disney does with their tomatoes, not upside down, but similar concept.
    http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k193/tnl2000/2007%20Disney/?action=view&current=disney2007pics369.jpg

    http://s88.photobucket.com/albums/k193/tnl2000/2007%20Disney/?action=view&current=disney2007pics368.jpg

    And they do the same with cucumbers, watermelons, and even pumpkins.

30. Aileen

    $5?!! I get my frocs for $1.99!!

    I like creative solutions to everyday situations. Way to go Senor. OMSH!

31. Amber (Bringing Good Home)

    Oh, I love this!!
    First of all, I agree with Bethany that Marigolds do not stink. I love the smell. It’s THE predominant smell I remember from my childhood days at my grandmother’s house. She had a ton of them.

    Also, I just want to say: This turned out so well! Oh, so, clever. I saw the whole upside down tomato thing on an infomercial and wanted to figure out a way to do it here at home. I didn’t even think about planting something else on the top. It’s genious. I have some small tomato plants - perhaps I’ll find a way to make it happen… hmmmm.

32. Mr. OMSH

    Wait a minute…What are Frocs and where can I get them for $1.99…I may have to buy stock in Frocs [cymbal clang and ditty plays].

    Regarding the tomatoes, I am holding OMSh at her word: I will be a nay-sayer until I eat that first tomato (I don’t even like the stinkin’ things).

33. Mrs. Wilson

    Okay, so somehow I missed this post, but saw it in Flickr …

    AMAZING!