Sunday, May 31, 2009

When your life is about to turn upside down, stand on your head



There is a tomato plant hanging upside down on my porch, and it's purely intentional. I had all but given up on the idea of ever growing tomatoes out here until I read this post from Spruce Hill. Her frugal husband invented a way to make a home-grown Topsy Turvy planter (as seen on TV!), and she posted a great tutorial. Thanks, pal!

Now if my water doesn't kill the plant first, here's what's supposed to happen: As the sun warms the plant like a greenhouse, the root system explodes and thrives inside the planter. Because Topsy Turvy® tomato planter is upside down, water and nutrients pour directly from the root to the fruit, giving you up to 30 pounds of deliciously ripe tomatoes per plant! Yeah, right.

But I dare any varmint to figure out how to steal my tomatoes the day before they're ready to pick this year! As an added precaution, I've hung the planter outside my office window for surveillance. And on top of that, there will be this weapon. Which brings me to the other point of this post.

Life as I know it will turn upside-down this week. I will officially be on vacation - no sitting at the computer cranking out marketing materials all day. No, sirree. Instead, I will be entertaining a house guest – my sister – who wants to experience ranch life first hand. Be careful what you wish for. In exchange for all the fun I'm going to let her have, she will teach me how to shoot this weapon (which I had to have her buy and bring to me because I, a law-abiding citizen with no physical address, can't buy a gun, but we won't go there now).

In between horse-ridin', burro-trainin', fence-stretchin', and chore-doin', we'll be care-takin' my neighbors' ranch and their cows and horses. And Smooch will be babysittin' the neighbors' dog, who will be staying here. The staid, routine rhythm of the 7MSN is about to get turned right on its head. And you know what that means...blog fodder! Might be a very interesting week over here.

11 comments:

  1. Oh, this is exciting ! New goings on at 7MSN !

    ( I was so afraid when you said you were taking vacation this week that you were leaving us blogees (sp?) in the dust for a week :-O )

    Can't wait to meet your sister !!!!!!!!

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  2. Hey now, that's something I could do on my balcony, I'll bet...maybe I'll let you do a test run first.

    I'm looking forward to witnessing all the fun...I don't suppose you have a hay order being delivered right about the time your sister arrives, do you.... ;o)

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  3. i have 4 topsy turvys we decided to give them a try i planted my plants 4 weeks ago and update with pics each week... come check them out they are amazing!
    i cant wait to see how your bucket works out... seems to me it should work well.
    laura
    http://peach867.blogspot.com

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  4. I am too cheap to try the Topsy-Turvy, so your bucket idea is the perfect solution for me. Although I already have my garden planted, I am tempted to try cherry or grape tomatoes like that.

    Have fun with your sister and keep us updated as to what she thinks of ranch life, and ooooh, good luck shooting!

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  5. The good old topsy turvy is loved by many tomato eating birds. May I suggest keeping a sling shot on your porch with a nice pile of gravel?

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  6. Well you know I'm just going to have to go and try this bucket thing now. See you what you do? I had to laugh seeing the gun and your talk of varmits. I thought, she takes her tomatoes a little too seriously, lol. But I get it now.
    Aren't gun laws nuts? Unreal. I can't wait to see what this week brings. I bet you've got all kinds of fun "ranch work" for your sis. :)

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  7. My cousin was telling me about these upside down tomato plants. I thought she was making it up! Love the photo of the gun. I've wanted to learn how to shoot a gun for a long time but my husband wouldn't let me get one. Now I know why. Do you think the gun laws prohibit people going through a divorce from buying a gun?

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  8. your tomato setup it a lot nicer than mine. Last year, I saved milk jugs for my planters.

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  9. Oh how cool! I am so glad you tried it! keep me updated on how it goes. I hope there will be no varmits! Our plant is double the size of our right side up plants! No tomatos yet! Did you use a pickle bucket?

    looking forward to seeing what you come up for your sister :)

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  10. Bring on the blog fodder! What do you mean, you don't have an address?

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  11. Good luck with your tomatoes. And have fun learning how to shoot. It's a lot of fun! :-)

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