A few summers ago an Athens, Georgia gardener grew 230 tomato plants in exactly
one square yard of garden space. He accomplished this spectacular feat by
building a 27 foot tower spiked with planting holes, filling it with rich
compost, and fitting it with a long perforated pipe down the center that he
could water through. Picking the fruit did prove to be something of a problem,
but this was more than compensated for by an "outta space tomato patch" (equal
to about 800 square feet of conventional garden) that yielded hundreds of
tomatoes.
If you think that tomato patch way off in Athens, Georgia, is way out, then
watch out, for a tomato patch may be coming at you down the highway. One
California man actually grew tomatoes atop his Volkswagen, which he drove all
over town. The car roof was bashed in with a sledgehammer so that it formed a
receptacle for soil, and four tomato plants were set in it. The driver estimated
that a ratio of six hours street use for every one hour of care promoted the
best growth, and he never planted on the front hood, as that would obstruct
visibility!