In my greenhouse this month, the aubergines have finally stopped sulking. For weeks after planting out they sat there looking faintly offended by the whole business, and then, almost overnight, the way these things do, they put on a growth spurt, their leaves gone glossy and purple-veined, the first flowers unfurling like small, star-shaped promises, […]
This is the moment in the greenhouse – with warmer nights finally arriving, the soil temperature rising, the light long and generous – when basil stops being a struggle and becomes worth growing. Even if you haven’t started yours yet you can get it underway in June and you’ll be cutting handfuls of the stuff […]
My greenhouse in May feels like it is buzzing with potential, the warm, humid air, the trays of seedlings stretching towards the light. This May has felt a little different. There are still trays of seedlings but it has been so cold of late that there isn’t the feeling that everything is bursting to get […]
April is the greenhouse gardener’s busiest month, and for good reason, the days are lengthening, temperatures are rising, and the window for getting key crops started is firmly open. Get the timing right now and you’ll be harvesting well into autumn, leave it too late and you’ll spend the season playing catch-up. Here’s how I’m […]
March in the greenhouse is a month when things start moving. The light has changed, and though nights still carry a chill, a little warmth now gathers under the glass by day. It is at this hinge of the seasons that fruit grown under glass begins to stir in earnest. Buds swell along trained branches, […]
I spotted them on a grey February morning on my way down to the greenhouse: the first tiny, rounded mint leaves pushing up in one of my pots. Nothing dramatic — just a hint of green, barely the size of my fingernail — but enough to stop me in my tracks. Mint is waking. February […]
January weather presses close to the greenhouse, with frost on the panes and the quiet threat of colder nights yet to come. Outside, the garden is holding its breath. Frost feathers the edges of leaves, the soil rings hard underfoot, and the light has that pale, slanted quality that belongs only to midwinter. This is […]
The greenhouse in December is still, cold, and dark. It feels like a moment of deep pause. But it’s also precisely the moment when us gardeners – particularly those of us with greenhouses – can begin coaxing the first signs of spring to life. We usually associate forcing bulbs with Christmas displays, but I am […]
Towards the end of last month the greenhouse started looking very sorry for itself indeed. Although frosts have not come yet, the tomato plants that have been filling the greenhouse with greenery, scent and fruit all summer have been abandoned for a couple of weeks, after their final harvest, and have now slumped and yellowed. […]
My greenhouse is full of green tomatoes, and so it is time to admit defeat on ripening and get creative in the kitchen. By the time October arrives, even the most carefully tended greenhouse is unlikely to coax much more ripening from tomato plants. The light has shifted, the days are shorter, and while the […]
We are barely scratching the surface of autumn and yet it is time to start putting the greenhouse to some autumnal uses, to which end I have been sowing some flower seeds to give plants a head start on next year, namely: hollyhocks. I live in a street that is blessed by hollyhocks. During high […]
We have reached the most exciting moment in the greenhouse year – it is finally earning its keep. After months of coaxing, feeding, side-shooting and watering, the tomato harvest is upon me. This is the moment we greenhouse growers have been waiting for: trusses hanging heavy, fruit blushing from green to gold, orange, crimson and […]
