Frosty basil

I thought for sure the basil was a goner. Last Thursday was only supposed to have an overnight low of 5C. Now, I've known the weatherman to be wrong before, so why I trusted him on this occasion I'm not sure. At any rate, Friday morning I awoke to brown-edged, droopy basil and tomatoes.

I didn't get the chance to snap a photo, but it looked dead. Like six feet under, crossing the river Styx kind of dead. I brought it and the tomatoes inside and then left town to go visit my friends in Lethbridge.

While I was gone Kyle did a very good job taking care of everything. The basil made a miraculous comeback and Kyle got to eat all the frost-bit leaves before they fell off. A win-win really. The tomatoes have lost a few leaves, but have also survived the frosting intact. In fact I just had a handfull of cherry tomatoes last night, and a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich with slices of our "Supersonic" variety. Yum. I could eat cherry tomatoes like those every day of my life.

The lettuce and cucumbers that Kyle sowed a week or so ago are starting to poke up. Great timing, considering they are forcasting SNOW tonight. Sigh. Such is the life of a Calgary gardener.

I also was given some chive plants from my friends Cheryl and Lorne in Lethbridge. They have been looking incredibly wilty since the transplant (might have had something to do with the two hour drive back to Calgary they had to endure), but I think they might be almost over the transplant stress -- today they were looking decidedly more upright.

Keep your fingers crossed that everything survives the snow tonight!