If you are a novice gardener, one of the easiest fruits and vegetables to grow in a Cincinnati garden are tomatoes. You should purchase tomato plants at your local Cincinnati nursery at the end of winter. Many people choose to grow tomatoes in a container or small window box, but these tips are for planting them in a garden in your yard.

You will be planting your tomato plants about 2 feet apart. Therefore, you need to purchase enough plants to cover the area where your tomato garden will be.

Select an area in your yard that gets full sun. The pH of the soil should be around 6.5. Buy a soil testing kit from the nursery or one of the Cincinnati garden centers. If the pH is between 6.0 and 7.0, that's fine. If it's out of that range, you will need to treat your soil before planting your tomato garden.

Add plenty of compost or rich mulch to the soil of your garden.

Dig a hole about 9 inches wide and 9 inches deep. In each hole, add more compost and six crushed eggshells.

Set the plants deeply into each hole. You should only have three to four branches exposed.

Pack the soil around the plant. If your weather is still cool, purchase row covers from the gardening store to protect the plants from cold and insects.

If necessary, add supports to each plant as instructed by your gardening center.

Each week, give the plants 2 inches of water.

Watch your garden grow! You should harvest tomatoes when they are glossy and fully ripened. The flesh should be slightly starting to soften.