2011

Just a few photos, reflecting the low level of greenhouse activity this year, a bit fuzzy as I didn't notice the camera was on the wrong setting:

 

Tomato plants are a bit sad, having been variously over and underwatered, but still some nice fruit; only some cherry tomatoes are ripe enough to pick so far, but today I plan to make a sandwich. ;)

 

A couple of sad lupins I grew for from seed and which have been begging to be planted out for weeks. I finally planted them out this morning, after taking the photos. I hope they take as lupins are one of my favourites.  Not very sensibly planted them in shallow jars, so they were difficult to remove, hope the roots survive the upheavel ;/

 

Salad leaves, also earmarked for the sandwich...

Basil, I love basil, just chew on it all the time ... :)

 

A tray of marigolds I grew from seed, and which also have been begging to be planted out for weeks...I notice some lupins in there, too... must plant them out soon.

 Not strictly greenhouse, but finally some apples (just the four!) on my apple branch...well, it did winter in the greenhouse, so it can count. Besides that, the vine has plenty of leaves but I neglected to water it at the crucial time so all the budding grapes shrivelled and died...so, no grapes this year, alas. A few cucumber plants languish, begging to go outdoors, but I have nowhere to put them...don't think I am going to see any cucumbers from them. There's also a lonely sad pepper plant with just a few peppers...maybe it will cheer up as the summer goes on.

I'll have a garden gnome if I want one, so there... :)  He's quite discreet, in a pot made up from
some seedlings I bought a couple of months ago from a garden centre... I didn't get round to planting seeds early enough for Spring pots but I've grown the tray of marigolds and lupins from seed to watch through the summer.  Anything I plant outside needs covering in chicken wire as protection from the pup and kittens.

The solitary pumpkin plant...I love the flowers but they seem only to last a day...

The tomatoes are coming along very nicely, though many fewer than last year; planted later and bought from Wilkinsons rather than the garden centre... also I haven't put any (bug-deterring?) marigolds alongside them this year, but they seem to be faring well enough....a bit perturbed to find one large green tomato had dropped - hope the others won't fall before they ripen.







The grapes are lovely, too; six bunches, anticipate they will be inedible - but they look nice. :)
The pepper plants are just flowering, so nothing to show there yet.

Quiet Year in the Greenhouse

There's very little going on in the greenhouse this summer as I was either on holiday or busy with holiday preparations during the time I should have been sowing seeds and planting...still, the vine in the greenhouse is coming along beautifully with several bunches of grapes. I had three vines from eBay last year; one I gave away, the second I broke - it had not flourished in the conservatory last year, and was doing well after I put it outside in the spring - but alas, accidents happen.



Three tomato plants are doing okay, but not nearly so well as those I grew last year.







Peppers came as seedling gifts along with a fourth tomato plant, all of which are doing quite well.
Unfortunately I somehow omitted to water the geraniums which accompanied them, so they died.





Richard brought this back from church and said everyone was meant to be trying to grow one for reasons he may or may not have given ...I think it's a pumpkin and it seems to be doing okay, but maybe it should be outside. I shall Google 'pumpkins' at some point before it dies, I hope.
I have another photo of the other tomato plants - which are a different variety (plum, like most of last year's crop) but it keeps uploading sidewards on, so I'll hope to have more success with another file at a later date.

I'm not intending to do any additional planting/growing this summer - maybe next year will see some renewed enthusiasm. :)

Fruits of the Greenhouse Labours: Chutney :-)

This one consisted of plum tomato, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, garlic, ground ginger and cayenne pepper. The next batch had more ingredients including apple, onion and sultana - altogether I made fourteen jars and there are none left! Mmm...chutney.



Very sterile jars...












...and lids.












































The pinking scissors came in handy and Richard printed some labels! I made the chutney some weeks ago, just have not got round to uploading the pictures until today. Very satisfying way to use the home grown toms and onions. :-)

October is Marigold...

I also added some pictures I took in August and September; went off greenhousing/gardening somewhat when two of the chickens fell ill and died, but hopefully will find renewed enthusiasm next year.



Just some flowers... a couple of tiny marigold left on the lower shelf.

















September 21st - end of produce.

















6th August






















6th August - pity I didn't take more photos of the peppers later as they were fabulous and plentiful, red and green. :-)

















6th August















6th August

Grape harvest...

These are it...and not at all bad for a new vine. It's in a pot in the greenhouse, everyone says to plant it into the ground outside and to have the vine grow inside. Mmm.... :-) Of the other two vines, one I gave away and one is doing rather sadly in a pot in the conservatory.

It's all about the tomatoes...(well, almost)

Peppers...fabulous, lots of them, strange shapes and sizes, though.
























The plum tomatoes - lots of them....





















































Moneymaker and Alicante varieties below, I still don't know which is which....










































































These might be the cherry tomatoes... assuming so because they are the smallest...



























The potatos grown from a seeded Charlotte I found in the pantry...



























One of the splendid begonias...it's quite a size





















A solitary bunch of grapes on one of the Black Hamburg vines continues to be my delight....





















Someone gave us some lovely home-grown courgettes so I cut some of the peppers and pulled a couple of onions for a lovely vegeterian dish...mmm.

July

The plum tomatoes are doing very well - there are so many of them!
























Today I spotted the first ripening tomato...



























The peppers are coming along nicely, too - they are going to be odd shapes (of the sort previously disapproved of for sale in European supermarkets!)


















































Some cherry tomatoes - there are just a few but they are looking good.



























The grapes continue to grow!



























Another variety of tomato - Moneymaker or Alicante, I have one of each but don't remember which is which.
















More oddly shaped peppers...






















Potatos growing from a Charlotte which got left in the pantry for too long and had begun to seed...am just experimenting to see if they will produce as nice a potato as the rather expensive seeded ones which I grew the first time round.



















They are a bit gaudy, methinks, but doing well....there were so many of these, I have given quite a lot of some plants away.

























Perry's runner beans seem happy in their pot...


















The pea harvest! Evidently need to plant a few more tubs - I can remember, as a child, picking peas from many more plants growing up two rows of bamboo poles in the garden, and that they lasted all through the summer - my paltry tub will not do us for more than a couple of meals! I think I will plant some more in one of the onion tubs, once I've pulled them. :-)

























And nothing to do with the greenhouse at all, just flowering in the garden...