Homemade Upside Down Tomato Planter!

Now that we have our lovely egg-laying, plant-scratching, fertilize the world chickens, growing anything on the ground is a challenge. It takes a total of 5 seconds for one of my lovely ladies to rip out a plant and scratch it all to shreds. When it came time to plant some veggies around the yard, I had to get creative.

I have seen commercials for the Topsy-Turvy tomato planter but at $20 a pop (for a plastic bag and a sponge), making my own was at the top of my list. Soooo here we go!

First, find a hanging planter that does not have a drip tray attached. I found some at Bi-Mart for $6. With a utility blade, cut a hole in the bottom that is just big enough to get your tomato plants through without breaking off leaves. Mine was about 2" in diameter.

Pause, and flex for your husband so you can show off your big muscles from carrying around the kid all the time. Please no sneaking peaks at all the other projects in the works. Also, please don't mind my rolled up sweats from 10 years ago and tie-dye doo rag. Really people...I am playing in dirt.
Next, after you stop admiring my whiteness, thread your tomato plant through the hole cut in the planter. Use the edge of a table and your knee to prop it up while pushing the leaves through.
This is the only part that is tricky...and not "oh it is hard to do tricky" but "what the heck can I use here instead of a sponge tricky". I tried some leftover weed barrier that I had laying around but I am almost positive that you could use a plastic bag as well...or anything else that would help the dirt stay in the planter. Cut a slit in one side of whatever material you are using (like you are making a Pac-Man shape) and wrap it around the stalk of your plant. Make sure to overlap the cut so no dirt is showing through the bottom.
Then fill it with dirt and hang it up! On that note, make sure you have everything ready to go so you can hang it up as soon as you fill it with dirt. Once your plant is in...you can't put it down.
The plant on the right was planted a couple of days before the other two. The tomatoes will try to right themselves but will eventually be weighed down by the awesome amount of tomatoes they will produce. I can't wait!

Total cost: $18...3 planters at $6 a piece, tomatoes were free from the Rock Garden Nursery here in town. They were getting rid of all their veggies before they moved. Score one for the big girl.