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heirloomer08 · January 14, 2010

Just a note on what I do to make my own tomato cages. I live in Iowa and this is farm country. What I have used to make my own tomato cages with little or no expense is used woven wire. I have yet to find a farmer that doesn't have piles of old fencing in his grove. If you go talk to the farmer and tell him what you would like to do with the woven wire he will most likely give it to you just to get rid of it. Sometimes the farmer might require a small fee to get it but just work something out with them. When I make mine I count out 9 full squares and the 10th square I cut in the middle of the square the height if the fence. That will leave you a piece of wire on each side of you piece. Make a hook on each of these short wires and make a circle and hook them to each other in the same line. Once they are hooked together crimp them down tight so they don't come apart. The tallest woven wire is only about 39" tall so you will need two of these cages to make one tall cage for tomatoes. I usually wire them together or use what is called "hog rings" to wire them together. The hog rings work really well as they are already shaped in a "C" shape and all you have to do is use a pliers and crimp them around the other wire to combine the to cages. If is a lot faster then twisting wire pieces to put them together. But, just a helpfull hint, hog rings are very sharp at the ends as they are designed to go through the tip of a hogs nose. Most any farm or hardware store should have or be able to get the hog rings for you. What I use to hold the cages in the garden are the steel fence posts that the farmer uses to hold his fence up. Most of the time you can get used post from farmers as they sometime have an older syle that they don't use anymore. Last year I made 50 cages out of this material and I don't think I spent more than $30 to do it. But, you have to keep in mind that I live in farm country and have some fantastic neighbors that are farmers. Also, most of the time but not all of the time they will give it to you just to get rid of it. Once the farmer is done with holding the livestock in with it it still will hold your tomatoes for years to come. It also would be a good idea if the farmer donated the material you might return the favor by giving him some tomatoes.
I hope this will give somebody some ideas and a way to recycle a used material.
Later, heirloomer08

January 14, 2010	#1
heirloomer08 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Iowa Posts: 89	Recycled tomato cages Just a note on what I do to make my own tomato cages. I live in Iowa and this is farm country. What I have used to make my own tomato cages with little or no expense is used woven wire. I have yet to find a farmer that doesn't have piles of old fencing in his grove. If you go talk to the farmer and tell him what you would like to do with the woven wire he will most likely give it to you just to get rid of it. Sometimes the farmer might require a small fee to get it but just work something out with them. When I make mine I count out 9 full squares and the 10th square I cut in the middle of the square the height if the fence. That will leave you a piece of wire on each side of you piece. Make a hook on each of these short wires and make a circle and hook them to each other in the same line. Once they are hooked together crimp them down tight so they don't come apart. The tallest woven wire is only about 39" tall so you will need two of these cages to make one tall cage for tomatoes. I usually wire them together or use what is called "hog rings" to wire them together. The hog rings work really well as they are already shaped in a "C" shape and all you have to do is use a pliers and crimp them around the other wire to combine the to cages. If is a lot faster then twisting wire pieces to put them together. But, just a helpfull hint, hog rings are very sharp at the ends as they are designed to go through the tip of a hogs nose. Most any farm or hardware store should have or be able to get the hog rings for you. What I use to hold the cages in the garden are the steel fence posts that the farmer uses to hold his fence up. Most of the time you can get used post from farmers as they sometime have an older syle that they don't use anymore. Last year I made 50 cages out of this material and I don't think I spent more than $30 to do it. But, you have to keep in mind that I live in farm country and have some fantastic neighbors that are farmers. Also, most of the time but not all of the time they will give it to you just to get rid of it. Once the farmer is done with holding the livestock in with it it still will hold your tomatoes for years to come. It also would be a good idea if the farmer donated the material you might return the favor by giving him some tomatoes. I hope this will give somebody some ideas and a way to recycle a used material. Later, heirloomer08