This is my largest tomato plant. It is a Marglobe. I don't know whether or not you can tell from the picture but it's cramped in the tomato cage. Badly cramped. My grandpa's tomato plants knew better than to outgrow the tomato cage on JUNE 7th! The little leaves inside the plant and cage were getting so twisted and distorted that I began to fear for the little tomatoes that were growing in there. All twelve of them! The plant was too big to get the cage off without cutting it so I promptly enlisted the help of The Husband. He's usually game for something that involves destruction and disassembly and as I had hoped, he was willing to lend a hand.

When he came back inside he said something that struck fear into my heart, and caused me to put down the baby and run into the backyard in a panic. "I got the cage off but the plant slumped over as soon as it was off." He said this making a helpful gesture with his hand, illustrating the "fall" of my biggest and for the moment, most productive tomato plant.

I was halfway out the door before he could finishing telling me how he had propped it up inside the cracked open tomato cage. The three legged cage had lost all structural integrity once the circles were broken. The tomato plant was very unevenly weighted to one side and as I attempted to maneuver the cage and push it more firmly into the ground, it let go of the plant and it collapsed to the ground away from me.

My heart sank into my stomach. There are no pictures of the slumped over plant in spite of the fact that the camera was in my back pocket and I'm sure all you tomato lovers will forgive me. This was not the time for pictures! I got it propped up and held in place with the help of the pitchfork and ran to get a couple of strong sticks and the twine and scissors. To make matters worse, the wind was picking up and my other 3 large tomato plants were swaying ominously. I got the plant supported by a complex system of twine and sticks and set about untangling and releasing the crowded branches that were all intertwined and some were even showing signs of deformity.

I was just beginning to feel good about the whole situation when one of my other tomato plants slumped over, cage intact! The wind was gusting up to 40 miles an hour. I found out later that many gardeners had wind problems. In the end my damage was minimal. Some of the onions and kohlrabi are a bit horizontal. My mulch got blown around but it's mostly still in the garden so I can collect it and redistribute. The pumpkin plant had a offshoot vine bust in two as the large leave was whipped around like a sail but the large main vine is safe and healthy.

You can see the snapped vine on the part of the plant inside the fence. The leaf is still alive so far. I think it would take FAR more than some wind to kill big pumpkin plant!