A couple of weeks ago I bought a pot of tiny basil seedlings and managed to transplant them into at least 4 pots, with about five in each. They are doing very nicely. The basils that were planted in spring are going to seeds but are still providing me with enough leaves to flavour my cooking or to add to my tomato sandwich to take to work. I have been picking the tops when they start to show signs of flowering but some have been left to go to seeds because I have not got around to nipping the flower heads in the bud. I will collect the seeds for next spring planting. Only once, in my old garden, have I seen basil self sowing. I suppose the seeds rot when left in the ground in the cooler months.
Last week I picked a large zucchini, a couple of eggplants and plenty of tomatoes to make ratatouille. My pepper plant from last year only produced one small fruit and is looking quite useless in the garden box so I used some green chillies instead. I picked sweet basil and Greek basil to flavour the dish. I still get excited when I pick the produce from my garden. The silver beets and bok choi that survived the rampaging possum I will pick soon. The bok choi I have to pull out before they bolt. As for the silver beets and rainbow chard, I pick the leaves when needed.
I notice the self sown coriander plants have produced plebty of seeds. I may pick some for use in the kitchen when they have matured and leave the rest to drop and regenerate. At this stage the coriander plants have on them very fine fern like leaves and when I need to flavour a bowl of yoghurt to go with a curry, a few sprigs will do the job.
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