Lots of rain and wind and rambling

 Got out briefly yesterday to just check on things before it rained. It's been a 'Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day' for three days now. Gusty winds and intermittent rain showers which means going out to the garden has been limited. Not raining this morning so was able to take Rocky out who objected to the wind and cold after about two minutes then we booked it back inside.

No pictures of the garden but a blurry distant photo of a lingering robin. A whole flock went through the other day and I guess this one was lagging behind.

And after the robins came the storm. It happened when I was in high school in San Jose as well. Robins came through, were on the lawn and in the trees, next day it was a rare snowfall. San Jose never got snow, so this was a treat and there's pictures in my yearbook to back me up.

So, opening my Encyclopedia of Country Living to a random page, happens to be on tomatoes, here's a quote:

"It's easy to raise tomato plants from seed, and they transplant without difficulty. One ounce of tomato seed might produce 3,500 to 4,500 plants." The author adds that they didn't count them just read that from another book. That might seems like an awful high number considering how many we usually get in a seed packet but consider that the sees are weighed in milligrams. Some companies actually do a count on their packets instead. Which to me is more logical since you are given instructions to plant so many inches or feet apart you can calculate how many you need. My packet was 515mg and I only planted about six or eight, there's enough left to plant the entire garden area and still have seeds left over. I mean, if the entire garden space was usable, 8 feet by 25 feet of space I think. I don't have to worry about supports since Roma are 'compact Determinate' type which is great for small spaces like mine.

 My packet cost $1.99 and if all the seeds I just planted sprouted and I kept them, that would produce enough tomatoes (hopefully) to keep me in tomatoes for weeks possibly enough for canning. That handful of seeds that's left... that to me is 1/4 acre farm size plot of tomatoes. Seriously! 

It boggles my mind sometimes thinking about how one fruit like a tomato can produce at least that many seeds. 1 fruit. This is how the larger tomato variety (might have the man's name wrong) 'Harry's Mortgage Lifter' got it's name. His tomatoes produced so well, and word got around town how good they were, he was able to save money and pay his mortgage with both the fruit and the seeds. Can you imagine selling eight or ten seeds for a penny (it was the 30's or 40's so that was a lot) and that family could have tomatoes enough for themselves and others.

This is one of the reasons why I love gardening. The idea of having one plant provide that much legacy and enjoyment. I would want a small farm that I could have kids or people over to teach about the plants, how to plant them, their history, all that.

You really do need a lot of room to garden 'sustainably'. I mean, I have three or four varieties of radishes and carrots already and haven't been able to plant them all. I could provide for so m any families with that. Granted radishes and carrots aren't the top of most people's list for vegetables but pair that up with some onions, lettuce, peas, more than enough. 

I was rather frugal with planting in the raised bed. I could have just taken a handful of seeds and sprinkled them all over willynilly and see what came up. It would be crowded as heck though which is not good. Technically. I have seen pictures of other beds where the plants are just exploding and there's no issues with production. But then they're growing things like kale and cabbage and all these huge plants, even potatoes and well, I have not gotten into the kale thing.

When I get more confident with how well this works I'll likely plant a bit tighter. The cilantro for sure can grow where it is almost forever, my sister in law had a 'perpetual' cilantro bed because she ignored it and it kept going to seed. If I get seeds from this crop I'll save it with the original seeds and will have to get some pepper seeds for the summer to go with the tomatoes. 

Funny thing about onions, the bunching onions I planted are typically the long narrow kind without a bulb also called 'scallions'. It's a marketing thing. I saw in the store what is being called 'Mexican green onions' which are basically the same scallion just grown long enough to get a bulb.

So there I go rambling on again but without any pictures of garden progress, that's what you get.