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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

> Next season the area became overgrown with early weeds and I did not weed 
> it right away since I had no use for it.  The tomato seed had 
> survived!  They germinated, grew above the weeds, and unexplained to this 
> day, the few plants bore several dozen of the very best tomatoes I've ever 
> grown all with no more work or regard from me but to fling a rotten tomato 
> toward the woods.

New gardeners delight in the unexpected. In addition to ongoing delight, 
experienced gardeners learn from the delights. Tomatoes, being a crop that 
most gardeners grow in substantial numbers, offer many lessons. James' 
story makes me ponder, for instance, if the alkalinity of the surface where 
part of the rotten tomato landed might not have contributed in some way. 
What way? Preservation? Bird repellent? Could it be that tomato seeds care 
not what is at the surface, that tomato roots are the discriminating part 
of the plant? Perhaps alkalinity invigorates certain seeds. Perhaps these 
things are only true of certain varieties. Perhaps, perhaps, on and on. 
What gardener finds life boring?

I have even now a tomato growing in a mess of vegetation, mostly lush sweet 
tomato vines awaiting a frost, but including bougainvillea and a bunching 
grass that I first thought was to be pulled as soon as I felt brave enough 
to wade through the vines but will now leave as it has revealed itself to 
be of uncommon beauty with violet brushes thrusting upward. The tomato is 
mostly hidden and it's hard to find the fruit. We had one sliced onto pizza 
last night. I am contemplating securing a piece of clear plastic over the 
rambling vine, although its area is now quite large, to see if I can tease 
Toni with ongoing reports of wintertime fruit.

I've enjoyed the tomatoes-in-weeds phenomenon many times, not to mention 
the yearly tomatoes-in-the-compost-bin condition that many of you know 
well. Who needs seed starters if one uses open pollinated varieties and 
tosses the overripe excess into compost? I suspect that weeds provide the 
semi-shade that tomato ancestors enjoyed in their native jungle habitats. 
The right type of vegetative cover protects the soil from sun drying, 
acting as a living mulch, preserving moisture at the root level.

Let us become tomato anarchists. Let us throw overripe tomatoes in every 
direction, including the back yards of our neighbors. When we find 
something good, it is right to pass it on.