It’s late August, and it’s hot, but my unheated greenhouse needs to be readied for winter vegetables. I’ve developed a method for getting this job done, one that not only adds nutrients to the soil but that also adds a natural heat source. Here’s what that method entails. I start by digging out the greenhouse’s […]
Compost fodder, plant support, greenhouse shading, mulching material, soil enricher, winter fuel, garden screen, wildlife haven… there’s no end to the potential of the versatile willow. Our first stormy autumn night didn’t disappoint: warm, lashing rain, high, cottage-shaking winds and two mini power cuts – then a proper time-for-bed blackout. My head torch-illuminated check outdoors […]
Some while ago visiting gardens on the east coast, I came upon a greenhouse that had a piece of seaweed hanging from its cornice. It woke a memory of my childhood in Ireland and staying at bed and breakfast near the sea. The owner would hang a long tendril of seaweed beside the back door […]
If you wish to enjoy the most tasty Edamame beans simply grow some in your greenhouse so you can pick these really fresh. Edamame are green beans, steamed and podded hot or cold they’re gourmet delights very popular in Japanese cuisine. They’re also nutritionally rich in Vitamin C & K, Elements Ca, Fe, Mg, P, […]
I am delighted to say that I have a new Hartley Greenhouse, a Wisley Grow and Store, to play with. It joins an older Hartley Greenhouse that’s now twelve years old – but still as good as new. My new addition’s a gardener’s Greenhouse with full-length glass and staging and I’m going to grow seeds, […]
Among the many seeds we sowed in the greenhouse this spring was a selection of annual climbers. They have taken their time to get going, perhaps owing to being sown a little later than ideal, I have to admit, but I think some of the blame can be laid at the door of this gloomy […]
With the fruit trees laden with apples, it’s time to harvest, store and appreciate this humble fruit. Some years are better than others for different garden fruits and this year my apple trees are loaded with large juicy fruits. I’ve never seen such huge apples hanging from the branches and have to assume that the […]
Gourmet cooks with a greenhouse will already appreciate how growing herbs in the hotter drier conditions improves their strength and flavour. Many if not most grow Basil knowing how wonderfully flavoured this is fresh compared to the modicum left after preservation. You just cannot capture the essence. Which is why cooks also need to grow […]
Autumn is arriving, night time temps are dropping. But your garden, especially your containers, have finally come into their own at the end of the season. You’d love to carry some of this beauty on inside a greenhouse. But how do you decide which ones should be sheltered? That’s a question C.L. Fornari examined in […]
Fall is a brilliant time for planting. The ground is still warm enough to encourage root growth, and the fierce battering of summer heat has lifted, which means less work for you. But there’s another reason autumn is the best time for both new plantings and the shaping of certain woody plants, either in the […]
Our greenhouses are transformative, regenerative and infinitely renewable. Imagine what could happen – for people, nature and planet – if we truly embraced that potential. What if we started thinking outside of our greenhouses – the gardening equivalent of thinking outside the box? What if we could muster our collective, sun-fuelled growing power to help […]
Hasn’t this been the challenging summer? Here in the Rockies, we’ve experienced cool days and regular drenching rainfall seemingly every afternoon from June to July — the garden loved it! But. Unseasonable cool days and nightime temps below 50° were not a joy for the edibles: Were I growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, the harvest […]
