There has suddenly been a need for quick action in the greenhouse. We have been idling on, letting the green tomatoes slowly turn a sort of half hearted faded pink in the waning sun, holding out for every bit of ripening we can get. But now the temperature has dropped and quite dramatically, and it […]
One of the best things about having a greenhouse is the possibilities it gives you to extend the seasons. It is at these moments in the year – when the seasons are starting to shift from one to the next – that mine really comes into its own. That thin layer of glass ups the […]
The beefsteak tomatoes have started ripening in the greenhouse, the most delicious crop of the year. I could survive all of late summer just on beefsteak tomatoes, a bit of salt and olive oil, and hunks of bread to mop up the juices, and by the way the greenhouse is looking now I most probably […]
The time has arrived for the first harvests from the greenhouse crops, and the first dishes to reach the table. Few things are more satisfying. Although not currently growing any courgettes in the greenhouse (really no need) I am counting them as greenhouse crops simply because they started life there, way back when. I sowed […]
After the shock of the mid May frost put all of my gardening plans temporarily on hold, the warming weather has meant that the greenhouse is now fully planted up and romping away. The task now is to give some of the plants a little attention and pinching out to direct their energies the right […]
I have never quite swung into filling my greenhouse with seedlings and plants so quickly in a season before. There is an urgency to this year: we have been forced to be less dependent on the supermarkets, but also need to stay in great health. Growing what vegetables we can feels necessary now. But don’t […]
Springtime is officially here and that means that so is my greenhouse’s busiest time. We will all be slowly but surely cramming our greenhouses to the gills with seedlings and cuttings over the next few weeks. This seems as good a time as any to have a look at the various kit and gadgets that […]
One of the first tasks of my greenhouse year is to start waking up those plants that have been tucked away in them all winter. Mine being an unheated greenhouse, my overwintering is only of plants that have some level of hardiness already, plants such as pelargoniums, aeoniums and other succulents that would even survive […]
This winter, we have decided to move the nectarine into the glasshouse ready for spring and summer. This is perhaps not as major an undertaking as it sounds, as the nectarine is a dwarf called ‘Nectarella’ which only grows to 1.5m in height (and can easily be kept even smaller than that). It has also […]
The jobs I love doing in the depths of winter in the greenhouse are those that transport me to the height of summer. If I am going to brave getting my hands chilly and have to stamp my feet while sowing seeds, I want it to be for blousy blooms waving in a soft breeze. […]
I have been rummaging around for my favourite seeds that can still be sown now, in the green house and outside, so that I can make sure spring is off to a good early start in the vegetable patch next year. Broad beans and hardy peas are the obvious ones, and both real favourites of […]
There has been a drop in temperature that has made me swiftly clear out the mini glasshouse ready for overwintering anything semi tender. In fact, we are going away, down to the south coast for a week to see out the real shift in season by the sea, but I can’t be sure that there […]
