I'm sure it's hard to believe that a single tomato could cost $100.  Well, it did.  I wanted to conduct an experiment to illustrate how Yard-GaardTM would enhance the growth and increase the yield of tomatoes.  One of the users claimed that his tomatoes grew bigger and produced three times as many and bigger tomatoes when he treated them with Yard-GaardTM.  I, too, found that a little hard to believe.

I set out to create a controlled environment in which to prove whether treating plants really made that much difference.  Click here to check out the original plants and how they developed in the first 30 days.

The experiment was going well and both the treated and untreated plants were starting to develop fruit.  I was very impressed and pleased to note that the treated plant had far more tomatoes than the untreated plant.

Then disaster struck.  Something had attacked both plants and had eaten part of each green tomato.  Click here to see the results.

Not knowing what had attacked my precious plants, I sought the advice of some "professionals" who suggested that it was probably birds.  They recommended that I build a cage around the plants to keep the birds out.  I went to the home improvement center and bought some PVC pipe and bird netting. Click here to see the defensive structure.

With renewed hope I was pleased to see new tomatoes beginning to form.  At last I was going to taste the fruits of my labor ... or so I thought.  I went out to tend my garden one morning and found several of the ripening tomatoes were gone!  Gone!  How could this be?  When I examined the bird netting I found a 5 inch hole chewed through the back of the cage at the bottom.  Some ground critter had broken into the cage and eaten several tomatoes. 

It was time to raise the stakes.  I went out and bought a small animal trap.  For several nights I baited the trap and placed it inside the cage.  No success - Houdini (we gave the critter a name) had eaten the bait and outsmarted me again and again. 

I kept changing the sensitivity of the trap until the trip lever had a hair trigger.  By now, I was going to catch this critter no matter what.  Oh yea, Houdini was still enjoying my ripening tomatoes on a daily basis.

Finally one morning I checked and found the trap had been tripped and the bait was scattered on the floor of the trap - but no critter!  Houdini had done it again!  He apparently had squeezed out through the small holes in the trap.  Houdini must be a rat.  They can squeeze through incredibly small openings.  Click here to see the trap.

I bought a rat trap.  You know the kind that hurts like the dickens when it snaps on your fingers.  I baited the trap and positioned it inside the cage where Houdini would be sure to find it.  He did.  And he lost a part of his tail as a result.  But, I wanted the whole critter - and I wanted him dead.  This was war.

I searched for new more powerful weapons to use in the next battle - time to move up to chemical warfare.  I bought some rat poison and secreted it away from my other animals where only Houdini could get to it.  After two days I checked to find that nearly all of the poison bait was gone.  I disposed of what little bit remained and waited. 

I had one surviving tomato.  Each morning I would check to see if it was still there.  Slowly it ripened - first a little yellowing, then faint pink started to appear.  Did I dare hope to harvest this tomato? 

Then it happened.  I saw Houdini slooooly crawling across the ground.  I must admit, I felt no guilt or remorse for his condition.  He had caused me a lot of grief and cost me a lot of money.  I was glad he was on his last legs.  It was without ceremony that i disposed of his lifeless well fed body.

A few days later I split my one ripe tomato with my wife.  It was delicious - juicy, sweet and expensive.  Click here to see my beautiful (and expensive) tomato.

I am happy to report that both plants are setting new blossoms and I am waiting to see what will develop this late in the season.  Oh yes, the treated plant is still producing three times as many blossoms as the untreated plant so I guess my experiment was a success after all.