Tomato Cages and next Summers Garden

I made new tomato cages this past summer from concrete reinforcing mesh.    They are sturdy and others who have made them claim they will be the last cages ever needed.  Time will tell.  The first few cages were very challenging to make, as the wire does not bend easily to form, is springy, is five feet tall and needs to be cut off the 150 ft. roll.  I eventually stopped trying to use wire cutters, and bolt cutters, and settled on using a 90 degree grinder cut off wheel to easily cut the lengths I needed,   my cages are roughly 2 feet in diameter.  I counted the number of 6 inch squares in the metal mesh instead of measuring each of them. 

I am really happy with the cages and will make more in due time.  The one thing that these cages need, is a sturdy support, so that the weight of the tomatoes and any wind does not knock them about.  I used T posts driven in to the ground and attached to each cage. 

Next spring I plan to make a fence around the garden with the cages to deter invasion by my larger four legged neighbors.  The tall border should be an interesting change. When placing the cages, I intend to space them approximately a foot apart, to allow good flow of air between the plants as they mature, access for picking and pruning, and sun light to pass between into the center of the garden.  There will be  strands of  wire or twine connecting the rows  of cages,  and the t-posts will be anchoring the ends of the rows.