Before I delve into the various uses of tomato cages, I though it would be appropriate to present a few facts. First, is the tomato a fruit or vegetable? If you guessed the former you are correct; however, if you are a member of the culinary set it is considered a vegetable. The United States Supreme Court also considers it a vegetable, see [Nix v. Hedden]. No matter what you call it, the tomato is rich in lycopene which may have beneficial health effects. The redder the tomato, the richer in lycopene.

Down to the purpose of my article and that is show the different uses for a tomato cage. They're Not Just For Tomatoes For those of you who have built long-lasting to­mato cages, you know, wire with the large open­ings, don't put them away after summer. Get triple use of them all year long. Choose the spot for your tomato patch and decide how many cages you will need. Two plants per person should be enough for fresh eating and plant 6 paste tomatoes for canning and freezing.
In early spring, prepare a spot where each cage is to go. Loosen up the soil in an area slightly larger than each cage and set the cages up. Space them about 5 feet apart and secure with stones or bricks on the bottom wires so they won't topple over. I drive stakes in the ground and tie the cages to these uprights. Now put about half the cages to work as pea trellises and leave the others for early tomatoes.

Choose early peas that will mature in 60 days or less, to grow up the cages. Compact growing peas that don't get much over 4 feet high are best, that way they won't flop over on themselves and shade out the lower stems. Plant the peas 2 inches apart around the outside of the cages and mulch the soil inside heavily so no weeds will grow there. Now treat the peas as you normally do, and harvest them when they are ready.

Start your tomato plants indoors and stage the plantings. Half the seedlings should be ready when the last danger of frost is ­past and the other half should be ready when the peas are finished. The later tomatoes should start bearing fruit about 2 weeks af­ter the first ones do.

To determine when to take out the peas, you don't have to wait till the last pod has set. When the number of flowers and pods has dramatically dropped off, that's when you should cut off the vines at ground level and pull them off the cages. Remove the cages and mulch and plant the tomatoes, then put the cages back on. Don't mulch the tomatoes until the ground has thoroughly warmed up.

Put the finished pea vines and old mulch in the compost pile. The pea roots that are left where you cut off the tops will decompose and add nitrogen to the soil, giving the tomatoes planted there a boost.

When frost has killed off your tomato plants, move the cages, pull the plants up and toss them on the compost pile. Where are plants that need winter protection? Are they in the vegetable gar­den where late crops of cabbage, carrots, or pars­nip could use a little warmth, or will the protec­tors be more useful in the flower beds to hold protective layers of insulating leaves around roses or tender perennials?

Set the cages over plants you want to protect FALL and secure them. Then fill the cages with fallen leaves. The crops will stay toasty and ready to harvest well into winter and tender flowers will come through the cold tempera­tures just fine. In early spring, take the cages off and move them to the new tomato patch.