Georgous Basil

My baby Basil's. I'm experiencing many 'Firsts' with my garden. So far they are mostly positive. It's the first time I've grown anything from seed (besides sunflowers when I was a child). Every morning when I wake up I think, oh if I get up now then I can see if any seeds have germinated! This week I've been pleasantly surprised every morning. Sometimes something new has germinated (today it was pod peas), and other times something like my broccoli has grown a huge amount through the night. From all the seeds I planted - broccoli, green beans, peas, carrots, sweetcorn, zucchini, parsley, basil, red capsicum, marigolds and nasturtiums- the red capsicum is taking the longest time to germinate. It and the basil are both inside at night, as it's getting quite cold at night this week. I know I have a bad mix of hot weather and cold weather plants, and I'm sure I will know it even better in a couple of months when some things just don't grow, but now I know for next year!

As for some of the less positive experiences, I experienced one not long after taking the above photo of baby Basil. I must have been inside for 10 minutes. As I walked from one room to another I happened to glance outside and see one of our beloved puppies standing on the table with both her paws digging furiously inside my baby basil pot. She knew she was doing the wrong thing because as soon as I opened the door (probably with wide eyes and my mouth hanging open) she made a quick escape. As I slowly surveyed the scene I realised she had pulled a tomato cutting out of it's pot and was trying to bury it in the basil. Or she had dropped it in there by accident and was trying to dig it out. Either way, the tomato was dead. The new roots were still in the pot with a little nub of stem, the rest was chewed. So now I know the dogs are big enough to climb on the garden table, and to never keep anything precious there! Now what remains of the basil sits on the window sill with the remaining tomato cuttings. Talking about tomatoes, I have three varieties growing in my vegetable garden, Bush tomato, Salad Tomato, Flesh Tomato. That's what the German label says. I'm not sure exactly what they are. So long as they taste good, I don't really care. Tomatoes have moved up to my absolute favorite veggie/fruit. Lebanese cucumbers were my previous fave, and probably still would be, but I haven't seen one since I came to Austria. Oh, and today I got a new job! Woo hoo!! Nothing to do with gardening except now I can buy more plants!! And the school (I'll be teaching English) is in the same town as the garden nursery hehehe.