Earlier this morning
Today has been a weirdly quiet one. Having dropped kids at school with not much planned, I drove around a bit with the intent on heading to the shops and grabbing some extra chocolate etc for the home stash. Partway there I realised we don’t really need that (slight regret now) and so I drove home.
I did, however, stop to grab a bag of dirt from the local nursery and added a tomato seedling to my purchases on the way out. Not chocolate, but something I suppose.
Tomato Seedlings – Too Tiny Too Cute
You see, last year we had some fantastic mini tomatoes the kids and I merrily harvested for a few months in our backyard. I was a bit sad when they grew their last little plump red fruits and withered away as they are want to do at the end of the season. It’s probably the first real success I’ve had in the garden outside of herb growing! Although I’ve planted many vegetable patches excitedly, I usually entirely overcrowd the poor things and they fight leaf and stem for some space and some sunshine. Only the super-strong win.
So with super low optimism, I shoved some of the last tomatoes we had back into a few potplants in the hope the seeds would somehow grow something marvellous for us again. Some seedling did appear and I probably far too quickly moved them to their own pots. Where they unfortunately wilted and merged back into the soil as they do when there is no green left. I feel I may have prematurely exposed the poor dears to the harsh reality of my garden!
Amazingly, many many months later a second attempt is starting to ‘bear fruit’. Not quite yet there, but we have indeed now a whole whack of seedlings that have popped up. I can’t really believe it. So I’ve left most of them where they are in their mini nursery. And as some are larger here’s to hoping they survive their move to a new home. 
Funnily enough, my sister in London is also growing tomato and other seedlings – though she is taking MUCH more care and pride in them than her absent-minded sister over here! Hopefully, we both get some amazing results from this year’s little crops.
A Pot Reshuffle and Plant Love
Before I cracked on with some effort in the garden, I got some vegetables ready for roasting with some herbs from out here. Nothing quite like a good slug of olive oil, cracked pepper, and fresh herbs to jazz up any old dish. The smell of these roasting from the kitchen would be a marvellous backdrop to working on the pots.
Then, after a big cup of coffee and my feet up, I decided to reshuffle the garden pots. These have been a little neglected of late and I do believe our cooler weather is probably the only thing that has saved the dear herbs here from inescapable plant death.
I dumped the dirt in two big pots I found down the back of the garden and planted the new tomato as well as some of our little tomato seedlings.
Turns out when I gathered a few pots up we still have the following thriving:
- Rosemary – I have no idea when it was last watered
- Kaffir Lime – looking quite sorry for itself and covered in ants
- Basil, chives, and a tomato seedling doing its merry little thing
- Chilli – super excited about how this is still giving after originally arriving here as a cutting. I always get a bit carried away and pick the chillis before they turn fat and red, so this time I’m going to see if I can hold off and let them do their full thing.
- Lemongrass – still going strong. I don’t know if you can actually ever kill that stuff which is a bonus for my Thai cooking.
- Lavender, lemon thyme, oregano and marjoram – this rather large, rather fragrant herb pot is finally sprouting its new greenness again having gone quite woody and grey earlier on this year.
And some sweet little flowers are thriving as well. Particularly loving the hydrangea still going strong after its initial arrival as a tiny cutting from a plant-loving relative last year. With any luck, we’ll spot some native bees around here today.
Now, off for some tea-sipping garden enjoyment before the school bell rings.