Is there any better feeling than growing your very own food in your very own backyard? Maybe not. But sometimes we don't exactly have room for the sprawling vegetable garden of our dreams.
Thankfully, Nicole Johnsey Burke (@gardenaryco) shared a clever tip on how to "quadruple the amount of plants you grow" on one obelisk trellis.
The scoop
Obelisk trellises are a common gardening accessory for plants that like to climb, like tomatoes or cucumbers.
Whether you're familiar with an obelisk trellis or not, the most obvious way to use it may seem to be to plant your veggie right in the middle of the dome or triangle shape it creates. This would leave plenty of climbing room on all sides for your plant to grow.
But Burke is here to tell us that by doing that, we're wasting prime gardening space.
"I've seen so many people take one tomato plant and stick it right in the center of an obelisk trellis and then grow it up in the middle," she explains. "Plant your tomato plants outside of the obelisk trellis, you can fit in so many more plants and they'll be healthier, too."
In the video, Nicole goes on to show how she planted five tomato plants around just one obelisk trellis.
"I planted these tomato plants on the outside of the obelisk trellis and then I train them all to go up the outside of the trellis as they grow," she says. "If you look at the soil, each of these plants is at least 12 inches apart from the other."
She adds, "They have plenty of room to spread out their roots underground and then as they grow tall, I keep them heavily pruned, attach them with twine, and each of the vines has their own stake where they can grow tall and be supported the whole way up."
How did we never think of that?
How it's helping
While always in fashion, there seems to be a lot of interest nowadays in growing fruits and veggies at home. For many, this is an easy feat with ample backyard space, but others, especially in urban areas, can find this challenging with the amount of available room. Nicole's super easy hack helps clear up some serious garden space.
And that's good for all of us. Growing produce at home helps our planet and us. Growing our own produce helps cut down on the harmful carbon pollution created when produce is shipped around the world. It also cuts down on the amount of plastic packaging used.
Aside from that, growing produce at home can seriously cut down on your grocery bill, especially considering rising prices. It's a win-win.
What everyone's saying
Instagrammers were leaping at the idea of quadrupling their tomato yield.
"What a timely post!" one person wrote. "I JUST ordered obelisks this morning to support my tomatoes!!"
"Wow this is great advice!!!" another commented. "Love your videos. [I'm] learning so much."
One user simply said, "Brilliant!"
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