*~*~*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