The tomatoes have been growing for three weeks now. Since this photo was taken at the weekend the count is as follows:

8 healthy little seedlings who bend to follow the sun during the day
3 little stems whose leaves weren't quite strong enough to unfold
1 empty pod (nope, no idea what happened there)

By the time we return from America those which remain (gah!) should be ready for potting out and being placed at the mercy of the damned pigeons, who are currently circling my beautiful grape vine with more than a little interest. Flying vermin.

Hopefully each seedling should grow into a 40cm bush of tomatoes. What with the pigeons and the move to No. 75 coming up in July they are going to need to be hardy little plants. I am giving them daily pep talks. We have an understanding. Right?

A couple of weeks ago I invested heavily (less than 5 Euros) in a plastic propagator and a packet of bush cherry tomato seeds.

It took me about 5 minutes to tuck a seed into each pod of earth and then I moved them to a radiator shelf in a window.

I left them covered with their lid, to stop the Cat destroying them. The husband poked the box a couple of times and asked exactly what it was and then we left them.

This week, exciting developments in the propagator...