Paging Dr. Pooka

I mentioned recently in our monthly pictures that Pooka seems to have developed her own tomato. I don't remember planting a Roma on that said of the deck, and I know I didn't plant anything beyond a standard Roma, so where our purple/black Roma came from, I have no idea. I guess I have a little geneticist as well as botanist in Pooka.

This is a Pooka tomato

 I don't know if you can tell from the picture above how dark the Pooka tomatoes seem to be. These tomatoes are completely ripe and are very tasty, but they are certaintly different looking. I will also say the vine they came off of is very prolific, so we are getting quite a few of them.

Traditional Romas and Pooka

The Pooka roma is a much smaller tomato, but I am wondering if that is due to being on the shadier side of the deck. I will say I do see more Pooka tomatoes on the vine then the regular romas. I will admit I made a point to grab some great examples of the tomatoes to work with.

Traditional Roma Vs Pooka Roma

 You can definitely see the difference in color between a Pooka tomato and a regular roma as well as the size difference. They are both very meaty little tomatoes, which is great for canning. The Pooka plant also seems rather sturdy since it has decided to grow THROUGH our patio table.

Let's see if we can do it again

I will say that I wondered how viable the seeds are. In fact, I am wondering if we can get a tomato that really likes our yard and does well everywhere. Pooka likes the fun colors of them, so Daddy, Pooka and I talked and then I did some research. We decided to try saving the seeds from it and see if we can reproduce our "oops." I will admit we have never saved tomato seeds because frankly the idea of doing it is a bit daunting. You have to put the seeds in water until they ferment and get nasty, then you rinse them and then you dry them and frankly, I didn't know if we could do it, but I can't go buy more Pooka seeds, so we are going to try it. I have 2 different sets of seeds (From 2 different harvests) to see if these work. Now to get to the nasty part then wash them. Only time will tell I guess. Wish Pooka luck on her "Pooka tomato." Who knows, maybe in the future Pooka will be giving away "Pooka Tomato" seeds to family and friends.

It has begun

A week ago after school Pooka and I decided to at least get the pea seeds in the ground. Now this year, I didn't start them inside and take them out. We just put the seeds in the dirt. It will be nice in a few weeks when I can send fresh sugar peas and blue peas in the kids lunches for school.

Home of the sugar peas

We started with the regular sugar peas. Those we planted straight into the ground in the front back bed by the deck where we have had peppers and tomatoes the last few years. Upside is that the pea plants will put back some nitrogen for the soil.

Home of the blue peas

Next we planted the new blue podded seeds in the containers. I was trying (maybe ineffectively) to minimize the cross pollination. I know Brother and Pooka really want to try blue peas. The location of the pots will most likely be moved, but at least its started and ready to go. I need to figure out where they will be moved too, and we may plant some watermelon in a blue bin under the peas. I will have to see how things are progressing.

Observing the seeds

Now, to be scientific, I had Pooka stop and observe the difference in the two seeds. I wanted to see if she could find any difference in them and similarities. Pooka ran and got her magnifying glass and got to work. She said the blue peas were "a reddish color, less wrinkley and stayed a bit more round as well a bit bigger." The regular peas were "white and looked squished and wrinkled, and were still a circle." Now we wait to see the begining of the plants.