A tomato plant inside a tall round cage with a squash plant spilling out next to it, all on weed-suppressing landscape fabric.

🌱 GardenPosted June 18, 2026

Tomatoes climbing the cage — squash spilling out beside them

First green fruit forming. Heat-loving squash leaves taking over the bed beside.

Read this to your kid first

"Today's photo is the tomato bed. Notice the tall cage holding the tomato up and the giant squash leaves spilling out beside it. We're going to learn why the cage matters, why squash leaves are so huge, and you'll make a guess about which plant will end up biggest by August."

Field notes

Today the tomato plant has filled out the bottom of the cage and is reaching for the top ring. The first green fruit is forming on the lower trusses — still hard and pea-sized, but unmistakable.

Right next to it the squash plant has unrolled leaves the size of dinner plates. That's how we know summer is officially here: tomato vines pushing up, squash vines sprawling out.

The black sheet under everything is landscape fabric. It blocks weed seeds from getting light and keeps the soil underneath warm and damp — both things tomato roots love.

The learning

What's actually happening

Why a tomato cage matters

Tomato plants get heavy. Once fruit starts forming, branches snap unless they have something to lean on. The cage holds the plant upright so air can move through the leaves (which prevents disease) and so the fruit isn't sitting in the dirt where bugs and rot can find it.

How a flower becomes a tomato

Every tomato starts as a small yellow flower. A bee (or just the wind) shakes pollen loose, and the bottom of the flower swells into a tiny green tomato. The petals dry up and fall off. The fruit keeps growing until it's full size, then ripens by changing color.

Why we 'sucker' the plants

Tomato plants grow side-shoots between the main stem and a leaf branch — we call those 'suckers'. If we leave them all, the plant makes lots of leaves but few tomatoes. We pinch most suckers off so the plant puts its energy into fruit.

Why squash leaves are so huge

Squash plants are running a race against frost. They have one growing season to make as many fruits as possible, so they build enormous leaves (big solar panels) to grab as much sunlight as they can, as fast as they can.

Words to know

Pollination: When pollen moves from one flower to another so the plant can make seeds.
Indeterminate: A tomato that keeps growing taller and making fruit all season.
Truss: A branch of a tomato plant that holds a cluster of flowers and fruit.
Landscape fabric: A woven sheet laid on the soil to block weeds while still letting water through.

Your turn

Make your guesses

Enroll a kid to save guesses.

Guess

Count the green fruits you can spot on this tomato plant today. How many ripe tomatoes do you think we'll pick from it by the end of summer?

Hint: A healthy heirloom tomato plant usually makes 20–30 fruit.

Pick one

Which plant in the photo will out-grow the other by August?

Wonder

Why might it be smart to plant a tall plant (tomato) next to a sprawling plant (squash) in the same bed?

Try this at home

▸Cut a grocery-store tomato in half. Count the seed chambers (called 'locules'). Most tomatoes have 2 or 4.
▸Find a tomato flower (or any yellow flower) and gently shake it over your hand. The yellow dust is pollen.

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