Tomatoes in a barrel

Very nice! itried growing grape tomatoes last year but found it difficult..I live in an apt though and do container gardening, trying to be as organic as possible.

Try this:
Get some organic potting soil that does NOT contain "peat moss".
Peat Moss does not support biological activity in the soil.
Amend your soil with some "Lava sand", "green sand", expanded shale, (for water control) and a splash of compost tea..
To make compost tea, mix 2 lbs of compost and water into a 5 gallon bucket and let it stew for 2 days. Drain the "mud mix" through a bed-sheet or other suitable filter material and apply directly to the tomatoes.
It will also make a great foliage spray that will help fend off the bugs..:-)

Thank you! I will try but I'm not sure I have enough room for all this - all I have is a balcony! BUt this is great advice. =)

Just remember that the plant depends on its' soil for life, so whether it is in a pot or in the ground, the SOIL needs to have the correct biological balance for the plant to thrive. Forget what some of the so-called "experts" say about "PH requirements" and nonsense like that, and get that biological activity going in ANY plant's soil using an organic approach and it will not only thrive, but it will fend off common pests that infect a plant.
FYI: A cherry tomato plant can grow well in less that 1 CU FT of soil space assuming that the soil is prepared properly.

Thanks! Well, the grape tomatoes grew well - that wasn't the problem so much as the pollinatiom - I had flowers but no tomatoes for the longest time, then Greenthumb (a GoY member up in Alaska) suggested I hand pollinate with q-tips - after that I got a lot of little tomatoes! But it was just a bit much for me...

I buy organic fertilizer from Wabash.

A great way to pollinate tomatoes is to shake the plants. No kidding! Tomato plants pollinate form movement caused by the wind. :-)