In gardening, each year you learn something new, and of course, you learn from your mistakes. I remember when I started gardening, one of the first veggies I tried growing were tomatoes. Everyone said, tomatoes are easy. Well, they may be easy, but if so, everything else is ridiculously hard, at least for me. They did produce fruit, but only in small amounts, and the tomatoes on the whole have been rather small and disappointing as well.

So, take a look these 10 steps for the most amazing tomatoes, and learn from my mistakes.

1. Get the right types of tomatoes for your climate. If you need advice, talk to a local expert.
2. Lay the plants on their sides.
3. Plant them in a trench with the top 3 inches uncovered.
4. Add a fourth to a half a cup of slow release fertilizer.
5. Erect a cage around each individual plant. It is supposed to be about 5 feet tall with a two foot diameter.
6. Cover the cages with floating row cover in order to provide protection from the wind.
7. Fertilize the plants every week using a hose-end applicator. Apply directly to the leaves.
8. Once they produce their first yield, side dress the tomatoes with 2 to 3 teaspoons of ammonium sulfate . After this Water them.
9. Wait until tomatoes are 30% ripe, and then pick them. Otherwise the birds will get them.
10. Do not refrigerate tomatoes. They go bad quickly if you do, so put them on the counter instead.