My tomato has been hacked!

 Not as bad as the late summer cut back but I took about a third to almost a fourth of the bush volume off then sprayed the heck out of it.

It indeed did rain overnight but don't think it was anything heavy and any leaves that I sprayed underneath for mites was still okay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Hard to really see the difference in the soil but yes it is wet so no need for watering even after planting seeds. Will talk about packaging of seeds after the update. The cool weather is good for many reasons in a garden and not so good for others.

Peas and potatoes growing apace. I used the green wire to add some extra 'rungs' to the cages for the peas and might even add some in between the two cages when they get bigger.

I really should have waited until the soil was a bit drier for planting the seeds but was taking advantage of the wet soil. I may have buried them a little too deep as well, they only needed a 1/4 inch and in drier soil would have been easier to sprinkle soil on top. It was rather clumpy as it was so did my best. Marigolds between the onions and radishes with a few over by the potatoes and lettuce in the south bed between the peas and carrots.

About seed packaging. I forgot until I opened them to always look at the weight of the seeds on the packet and know what the seed size is. The number is usually in grams or milligrams sometimes ounces if you're dealing with larger seeds or quantities.

Let's take three different seeds, marigolds, lettuce and peas. You have to understand metric in order to really get an idea of what you're getting.

I opened the lettuce seeds first and the package was 1.2 grams, lots of seeds I could have planted several rows and all the beds with the number of seeds if I followed the planting directions. Okay, just spilled out enough to plant a little thicker than needed. I opened the marigolds next in a 325mg package. Hmmm you say, isn't milligrams smaller? Yes indeed... I got maybe a little over a dozen seeds in that package. Marigolds were $1.79 and lettuce was 2.79. Why couldn't they have put more seeds in the marigolds? There was plenty of room, the lettuce plants get bigger but I suppose people need more lettuce than marigolds? Who knows. I would have to check other company pricing and sizes to see if it's the same.

 Now the peas, due to being a different company were only 99cents for 8 grams. I still have about five seeds left in that package of Little Marvel peas that I am not sure whether they actually are the ones up and growing or not.

Larger seeds weigh more and honestly, seeds are seeds. Every company may say theirs is the best but it's seeds. How you care for them determines your success more than anything. So I feel like I got gypped with the number of seeds but I honestly didn't need an entire field of marigolds and got just the right number. I got more lettuce than I really needed but that is a two season crop so after summer I can throw them in the ground again for a winter crop.

So buyer beware of price to weight and type of seed you are buying. Some strictly organic companies will charge more for a similar size package because in order to be certified organic they have more costs to keep it that way as well as paying the government for that certification. If you're into that sort of thing exclusively, you pay the price necessary. Sometimes smaller companies have more unusual or heirloom varieties and again, if you have the space and want more variety, go for it.

As I've said, if I ever get more land to plant on I will go hog wild and donate the stuff I don't eat. Call the neighbors in or the Senior Gleaners or other organization (a senior volunteer organization that people can call to harvest their gardens).

So it's going to be cloudy and spritzy today, a bit of a breeze and supposed to be clear and hot this coming week. The marigolds and other veggies will love it I'm sure, peas and lettuce, will like it as long as it breaks once in a while.

Hopefully in about a month I may have flowers and tomatoes to harvest!