Melinda's Garden Moment Radio Tips
Melinda Myers
Nationally known gardening expert, TV/Radio host, author & columnist with over 30 years of horticulture experience and tons of gardening information to share! www.melindamyers.comMelinda's Garden Moment videos will help you create that beautiful landscape you’ve always wanted. Each week throughout the growing season, a new gardening video will be added right here, so be sure to stop back. You can also watch Melinda’s Garden Moments on your local network TV station affiliate.
Grow your own ‘Ketchup ‘n Fries’ this season. This tomato grafted onto a potato plant is sure to be a hit in your garden.
Growers have been working on grafting the closely related potato and tomato for more than 15 years. A successful graft was accomplished in the UK and is now available for home gardeners in America. Each plant will produce about 500 cherry tomatoes and 4 and a half pounds of white potatoes.
The sweet cherry tomatoes are great for snacks, salads, drying and even making ketchup. As the plants stop producing or season is drawing to an end, dig up the plant and harvest the potatoes. You can bake, mash or roast the white potatoes or make them into fries.
Grow your ketchup ‘n fries plant in a sunny location with moist well-drained soil. And those with limited space may want to grow their plants in a large container or potato grow bag.
A bit more information: Grafted vegetable plants are becoming more popular. The desired vegetable variety is grafted onto a hardier rootstock. The result is a more vigorous plant with better disease resistance and greater productivity.