Greenhouse Jumble

April 3, 2011 by

I just love greenhouses and polytunnels.  I can’t quite put my finger on what it is, but I think they are magical.  We’ve been lucky in that each house we’ve moved into has had a greenhouse left behind and we’ve made good use of each one.  A couple of years ago, we bought a greenhouse and we absolutely love it!  When I went to pick some salad the other day, it struck me how much was ‘going on’ in there…so took a piccy.  Later in the season it’ll look very different.

So what’s what?

1. Some radishes that I sowed in Early February for an early spring treat!

2. Strawberry runners that Emma found had rooted in our fruit cage…dug up and popped in pots

3. An old washing tub, now used for compost – convenient and warms the soil

4. Some Begonias and Dahlias for the sitting area in front of the greenhouse (the ‘admire your hard work’ spot)

5. Carrots planted in a container

6. Some bamboo canes from last year’s runner beans

7. Spare raspberry canes (malling admiral I think) that we’re growing in pots

8. The netting system I used last year for growing cucumbers – worked a treat!

9. Buckets of water (from water butts) warming for general greenhouse use

10. Right in the corner…some gnome thing that one of the kids got as a present

11. My perpetual salad system…8 trays (4 on top and 4 below).  I’ll plant one tray per week rolling

12. Some chilli, aubergine and capsicum plants

13. A thermometer that’s partly broken (measures lowest but not highest temperature)

14. Outside the greenhouse -Water butts that come from the greenhouse

15. Tommies – We’re growing a few different varieties this year. Harbinger, latah, sungold and sungella

I wonder if other people’s greenhouses are such a jumble as ours at the moment?


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Clean and Easy Salads

March 27, 2011 by

The oriental mustard leaves and wild rocket leaves that I planted back in February in the greenhouse are now cropping and giving a good salad portion each lunchtime.

It’s the start of a new system of perpetual salad that I’m going to try this year.  I’ve got 8 large deep trays that I’ve filled with compost and I’m going to successionally sow various salad leaves.  I’ve got these deep trays in large greenhouse-trays so that rather than watering them from above, which kicks the soil up, I can add water to the trays and it’ll be soaked up.  So…when I pick the salad…it doesn’t need washing – Bonus!  So far I’ve grown the oriental mustard and wild rocket as photographed and I’ve recently sown some ‘saladisi’ (a mixed salad) and some ‘blood veined sorrel’, to eat as young leaves too.  I’m hoping that with good timing I’ll be able to supply the family with fresh salad leaves all summer and into autumn.


Filed in: Greenhouse, Harvesting Tags: , ,

Oriental Mustard Seeds Are Up

February 17, 2011 by

Oriental Mustard Seedlings have SproutedThe oriental mustard seeds have sprouted and are now little seedlings.  They look like the rocket seedlings (as a lot of seedlings do because the dicotyledon leaves are rarely as differentiated as the true leaves that follow) except that they have a rather pleasing purple edge to them.

This year, I’m hoping to grow a constant supply of fresh salad leaves with a new system of successive sowing and a new tray system that I’ll describe in another post.


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