The recent tomato scare has sickened more than 150 people since a salmonella outbreak linked to certain raw red plum, red roma and red round tomatoes started in the middle of April.

While grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and round tomatoes with their vines still attached are said to be safe to eat by the FDA some stores and many consumers are not taking any chances and are refusing to buy any grocery store tomatoes.

Plus McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell and Outback Steakhouse restaurants have taken tomatoes off the menu although McDonalds is still serving grape tomatoes in its salads because they are not linked to the salmonella outbreak.

This latest scare about the safety of food supplies has more people thinking about growing more of their own food. Tomatoes are pretty easy to grow, plus they don’t need a lot of space.

They can easily be grown in a container on a deck or porch that gets plenty of sunlight or from upside down hanging “Topsy Turvy” planters that can be hung almost anywhere there is good sunlight.

ThrifyFun.com has input from several of its readers on growing tomatoes in containers that cost them little or nothing such as existing window boxes, 5 gallon buckets, and black plastic bags.

There are just a few important things to remember when growing tomatoes in a container whether it’s a traditional container or an upside down topsy turvy container: containers dry out fast so plants will often need daily watering; fertilize every week; and make sure they get plenty of sun.