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When I was a kid, we always had plenty of tomatoes in our garden and growing good tomatoes was a family activity. Late summer and early fall at our house brought us fresh, delectable tomatoes to eat. My mother would often can these, even though I didn't particularly care for them that way. Stewed tomatoes are not really to my liking, but I really do love a good tomato. Whether you like them fresh, stewed or both, growing tomatoes is so easy almost anyone can do it.

When starting your tomato plants, you can either choose to use the starter plants most people enjoy, or you could begin growing good tomatoes early inside your home. Growing from seed is a much more difficult way to do it though, and you can make things easier for yourself simply by purchasing the starter plants that are available. Wait until they are the right size before planting them outside or else they will not grow properly. You can transplant these plants without trouble, but make sure to give them lots of breathing room to spread out in the garden. Each plant will spread as they grow and they need room to get the sunlight they need.

A big backyard garden isn't necessary for growing large tomatoes; a window box does the trick quite nicely. You'll have to stick to 1 or 2 plants but those should produce plenty for the dinner table. No matter where you plant them, growing good tomatoes requires your tender loving care. As tomato plants grow bigger, stakes will be necessary to keep them upright. You can buy specially made round wire frames at a gardening store, or else you could pitch a stake or fence beside your tomato plant to hold it up. This method ensures that your tomatoes will stay off the soil.

Find a good fertilizer for your garden, for that will help you in growing large tomatoes as well as maintaining healthy plants. Follow two gardening rules of thumb with your tomato plants and keep them well-watered and in a weed-free area. Though some gardeners like to let their tomatoes ripen on the vine, you can pick yours before they are a juicy red color. Whether a tomato is still green, yellow or orange, it will continue to ripen if put on a counter or windowsill. Tomatoes taste best when stored in a dry, cool place but not the refrigerator. If you want to enjoy tomatoes for longer, pick some while they are still green and store them in paper bags. They will keep well for a few months like this, allowing you to remove them and place them on the windowsill to ripen long into the autumn season.