An intrepid gardener sets out to grow tomatoes upside down

Potting mix. Check.

Tomato plant. Check.

Two-inch shark-tooth drill bit. Check.

OK, this is not the way most gardeners start off their growing season.

Then again, planting tomatoes upside down - yes, I said upside down - isn't exactly natural.

According to the experts, though - and who am I to doubt them? - it's supposed to be fabulously productive.

The plants get consistent water and wonderful air circulation, and all those icky diseases that plague tomatoes from problems with both moisture and air are either diminished or nonexistent.

I decided to see if the proof is in the pudding.

Admittedly, I harbor a bit of doubt.

In my world, roots go on the bottom, leaves on top. Call me silly.

In recent years, I'd seen companies marketing products that dangle tomato plants from the bottom of containers and tout the productivity benefits of such growing methods. I'd also seen homemade, theoretically cheaper, versions of the hanging baskets.

That was enough to send me into the realm of "wouldn't it be fun to …" and I hatched a plan to try both the homemade and mass-produced methods - with the same variety of plant - to see if one produced better results than the other.

As an added twist I'd grow a third tomato in the EarthBox, a small, self-contained growing system (complete with a water storage system and slow-release fertilizer) that's supposed to be about as low maintenance as you can get.

Aside from the sheer oddity of the whole thing, I thought the experiment truly served a purpose.

Too often when I speak at garden centers and other venues about the Daily Herald's Giving Garden program, which routes fresh garden produce to food pantries, I'm met with "I'm sorry dear, I can't help. I live in a condo." Or a townhouse. If only I had a better answer than "have you tried container gardening?" I might make a dent in their defenses.

Here was a viable way they could participate and learn to vegetable garden in really small spaces.

Now, as far as the whole from-scratch upside-down tomato plan, I had a basic set of designs courtesy of a garden writer friend at a West Coast newspaper that I would adapt to my own deck.

And let's face it, a candidate for the next host of "This Old House" I'm not. But if I could string this baby up, albeit after asking plenty of questions and soliciting advice, (and OK, I admit it, a few mistakes), just about anyone with some basic tools can do it, too.

I'm opening up my grand experiment to you, our readers, throughout the summer (or as long as I can keep the plants alive) through a blog where I'll chronicle my successes. (Or accidental missteps. Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

I'm also inviting you to share in my journey (i.e., pain). You can send me your stories and photos should you choose to join in the Grand Experiment though my summer blog at www.dailyherald.com/givinggarden.

Through it, you'll meet a temperamental jalapeno plant I've named "Lefty" who occupies a corner condo in the EarthBox.

I'm convinced that 41 minutes after the Great Tomato Experiment began, Lefty somehow attempted to stage a mutiny. And I have photographic proof. No, really, it's true.

As if that weren't bad enough, Lefty then frightened my tomato volunteer into attempted suicide.

Several intensive group therapy sessions later, all prevailed. Well, OK, with one exception …

Stay tuned.

I'm thinking it's going to be a scary, interesting summer.