Alas, the garden often pays a price for an August R&R. The person who took care of my cat was great with animals, but with plants, not so much. To be fair, patio containers really need a LOT of water. I probably should have been more specific about that…

Casualties include a zucchini plant, a couple of herbs, and some spinach that never sprouted. The wounded include some bean plants that are a mere shadow of their former selves, a crop of chard, and some wilted tomato plants that look OK now that they have been given a drink.

It’s already time to plant fall crops here in Vienna, so I cleaned up and made a fresh start. No problem finding winter hardy vegetables here, that’s for sure. I passed on the radishes and turnips, but today, I planted more spinach, some taller cooking chard, and something called “Feldsalat” which translates as lamb’s lettuce (AKA an edible weed).

There was one plant that loved the hot, dry conditions on the patio. That is a cheap pepper bush that I picked up at the grocery store. It’s gone nuts! The peppers are good and hot, too. Should keep us warm over the cold Austrian winter.