Vegetables Front and Center

(Page 4 of 5)

April/May 2006
By the Mother Earth News editors 
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Kirk Wells
Corona, California

RELATED CONTENT

We have articles about bicycles and motorcycles underway. Public transportation certainly is the way to go for those with access, but unfortunately it is not yet widespread.?—?Mother

Awesome Folding Garden Cages

Terrific for Tomatoes …

When my husband read your February/March 2005 issue, he was impressed with “Woody’s Folding Tomato Cages.” We, too, had our metal-caged tomato plants collapse in storms.

This year, when we first put our plants out, my husband made eight tomato ladders. The results? Our tomato plants are taller and stronger than ever. We even used two of the ladders for cucumbers.

Making the ladders was well worth the effort, because they were far superior to anything made out of metal. Thank you, John Woodzick and Mother Earth News!

Frank and Linda Mach
Chicago, Illinois

… Beautiful for Beans, Too

I enjoyed “Woody’s Folding Tomato Cages” so much that I used the materials list and directions to build a pole-bean tower for my garden. I followed Woody’s suggestions and added twine for my green beans to climb.

We took this picture of me with my bean tower and my grandson in July. By September, the beans had covered the tower completely. Thanks for this great do-it-yourself project.

Don Fekete
Kennewick, Washington

You can build John Woodzick’s folding wooden tomato cages quickly, using scrap lumber and a few screws. Read this popular article at www.MotherEarthNews.com.?—?Mother

57 mpg — in 1978!

In the discussion of older cars that get better mileage, I never see mention of the 1978 diesel Volkswagen Rabbit. I bought a stock 1,600-cc diesel Rabbit in 1978. One road trip, I filled up in Houston, drove to Fort Worth and returned on the same tank of fuel. Driving 55 mph (the speed limit then), it calculated out to a hair over 57 mpg for the round trip. Why don’t they get that now?

Elbert Marks
Houston, Texas

They Can Do Better

Just finished reading “Green Means Go” in the October/November 2005 issue. I am not impressed — many of the vehicles don’t get even 35 miles per gallon. I own a 1980 Toyota pickup with over 350,000 miles on it that still gets almost 30 mpg. It seems to me, in the space of 25 years, that automakers could do better!

As for the gasoline/electric hybrid Toyota Prius, 60 mpg seems disappointing. As the article says, the Prius is still two-thirds dependent on fossil fuel — I think Toyota engineers could do a much better job.

Victor McKechnik
Timberon, New Mexico

Hybrids for Everyone

Some readers have asked why hybrids don’t get higher fuel economy, considering that some cars of a decade ago got up to 55 mpg. It’s a good question with a simple answer. Small, minimally powered (49 to 55 horsepower) cars like the Geo Metro did achieve great fuel economy, but they were far from cars for the masses. Buying patterns over decades have shown that small cars with modest performance have not been high on the American car buyer’s shopping list. Hybrids such as Toyota’s Prius and Honda’s Insight and Civic Hybrid also get exceptional fuel economy, with combined city/highway fuel economy estimates of 55, 63 and 50 mpg, respectively. They are far better cars than the Metro in all respects.

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