5 TIPS How to Grow a TON of TOMATOES in One Long Raised Garden Bed Trellis

In this video, I give you my five top tips on how to grow a ton of tomatoes in just one long raised bed garden!

Self Sufficient Me is based on our small 3-acre property/homestead in SE Queensland Australia about 45kms north of Brisbane - the climate is subtropical (similar to Florida). I started Self Sufficient Me in 2011 as a blog website project where I document and write about backyard food growing, self-sufficiency, and urban farming in general. I love sharing my foodie and DIY adventures online so come along with me and let's get into it! Cheers, Mark :)

[Selfsufficientme]

G'day Everyone! I've been wanting to upload a "How to grow a ton of tomatoes" video for a long time and finally, I've done it! Hope you like it - thanks for all your support :)

[alexscantlebury]

Your videos were what actually started my wife and I to head down a self-sufficient way of life. Love your stuff.

[katherineblevins]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Over the years in growing tomatoes here in the states, my biggest problem was birds eating the tomatoes, that problem is now solved. I hanged small red Christmas bulbs on the tomatoes plants early before the tomatoes turned red, the birds would come and peck at the bulbs and realize they weren't real, so by the time the real tomatoes turned red they left the tomatoes a lone. :-)

[truthhurtz]

Here is yet another way to preserve tomatoes - I blend the tomatoes into a liquid, then place the liquid on fruit roll up trays (I think that's what they are called) in my dehydrator. After they are completely dried, I blend them into powder in a Vitamix - you might be able to use a food processor. Ta-Da....Tomato Powder !! (which is quite pricey to buy) You can add a little water to some to make instant tomato paste, add to soup, or stock, pasta dough, bread dough - your imagination is the limit !!! To store, I freeze mine in Mason jars.
I really love your videos !!

[kevinsierra]

Greetings, I’ve been following your videos since I was 17 (I’m 22 now) and since I started to watch your videos, I started working your methods on my garden. I’m from Puerto Rico, an island that has a 100% tropical climate, so we can grow and harvest most of the fruits and veggies through all the year. Thanks to your videos, I’ve been improving my skills to have better results. I wanted to thank you for your wise tips and videos. Blessings……

[djangoapple]

I've found that using sunflowers is the best way for me to stake tomatoes. I'll typically plant sunflowers 12 to 18 inches staggered from from my tomatoes. The sturdy stalks allows tomato plants to share the "living stakes". As needed I remove leaves from the sunflowers to allow light. In many cases I'll leave the leaves on in the west Southwest for relief of the hottest sun.
I'm growing sunflower seeds and increasing soil mechanics along with a huge amount of compost.

[ruderemarks]

I love this guy. He's funny, entertaining, and informative.

[hurleycapetown]

"There are over 15 000 varieties of tomatoe"
"I encourage you to try them all"




Challenge accepted

[LA_Space]

Tip 6, don't put them in the fridge. The minute you do, the natural sugars start breaking down similar to how wine starts to deteriorate after its opened. Taste them for yourself. Pick 2 off the vine and put one in the fridge. You will notice a massive difference. That's why you rarely find tomatos in the fridge in the supermarket. Great video mate... Love your work.

[advancekashmir]

I live in Kashmir and we always grow a lot of tomatoes more than we can eat in a season. But, lately, we've been taking some of our tomatoes to the nearest factory where they make tomato juice from our tomatoes so we can use them later in winter.

[martinengelbrecht]

1. Plant a number of varieties at different times!
2. Smaller cherry varieties have a shorter time to harvest, 55 days while larger varieties are 95 days.

[jgbw]

Mark, I want to thank you for setting me off on a journey of growing my own and trying to be as self sufficient as is possible living in an apartment with a great balcony. I am really lucky to have a huge rooftop balcony. Until this year I grew nothing but flowers and shrubs. But this year I hot a "square meter" frame for growing my own stuff from seed. I wanted to go completely organic and natural, both using organic seeds as well as soil and pesticide free. It is proving to be one of the most exhilarating and rewarding things I have done. It has lead me on to getting fruit trees and herbs. I have been seriously bitten by the bug. Not only has it given me a fantastic new hobby but it has also helped me enormously to deal with serious psychological issues.
You are not just a gardener, Mark, but you have been a kind of therapist, probably not only to me, but I'm sure to many others too. Thank you so much.

[satsukiobsession]

"And just like that they're gone and my shorts have shrunk ....but let's not think too hard about that "
*immediately starts thinking hard and going back to the beginning of the video

[ronweldon]

So basically you're God's way of leaving his "Mark" on the world to teach your prophets how to grow food and share it with others! You're a good man, and let me be one of the millions that thank's you from the bottom of my heart for all you have taught us.
I bet you have as much fun teaching us as we do watching and learning from you. I must be up to 100 videos of yours that I watched so far. I'm thinking about selling my tv because I never watch it anymore, lol. I'm hooked on "Mark TV" now!

[Leathurkatt]

An excellent living mulch you can use is white clover. They have very shallow roots so they don't compete with your crop plants, they prevent water loss to evaporation, they prevent soil loss to wind erosion, and they draw nitrogen out of the air and into the soil to help feed your crop plants. Plus, not only do they attract pollinators, when you're ready to clear the bed for winter or if you want to cull it back, they make excellent roughage for grazing animals.

[becool]

Try tomatoes with onions and feta cheese. It is a staple for Greece, Eastern Europe and Turkey.

[Jessica-ybje]

Mark is the happy Aussie garden dad I never knew I was missing

[cedricbercier]

mark you're a legend, iam a french guy living in new calédonia just next door, i do a bit of gardening myself and i love to watch your vidéos, you explain so well, we can tell you love your garden and acquired great knowledge in vegetable growing throught out the years you are an exemple for me.also you speak a nice clear english very easy to listen to for non english speakers.thanks for all and carry on we'll follow you with great pleasure.

[microvista]

I grew some basic cherry tomatoes in Virginia, they grew so well I had so many I randomly tossed some around for fun one day and in just a few weeks I had new tomato plants growing all over mine and my neighbors yards. XD They grew very well when some found their way into the water ditches. They're everywhere but I love it just for the nice smell they make.

[rajaperry]

Mate, as a fledgling organic gardener, I would just love to hang out with you in the garden and absorb your knowledge and experience. What a blast that would be!