THE GREENHOUSE VEGETABLE PROJECT  THE GOLIGHTLY GARDENER

Well, it’s June, its Summer, and the first year of growing in the Go Lightly Greenhouse is well underway! 

Vegetables 

As an enthusiastic Amateur Gardener, and with a newly acquired small greenhouse, I ventured wholeheartedly this season into vegetable growing.  I have carrots, potatoes, tomatoes and lettuce growing, as well as strawberries, parsley, mint, oregano and thyme.  It is so easy to control the development from seed or small plants, when you have any sort of light indoor space in which to nurture them.  There is something so rewarding and satisfying about growing and eating your own produce.  The strawberries are so much juicier and tastier when you know they came about from your own fair hand! 

Of course there is a bit of a wait for the tomatoes, potatoes and carrots to emerge, so they have to be carefully tended to.  I have covered my baby Chantenay carrots with mesh to keep carrot fly at bay.  This is a real menace to growing carrots outdoors, which are best grown outside of the greenhouse.  Its very important to keep topping up the compost in your potato containers, as if light gets in it will turn your potatoes green and they will be inedible, and no-one wants that do they!! 

I would recommend not to get too carried away with the variety of vegetable, salad and herb seeds and small plants in the garden centre, as some varieties do grow to enormous proportions, taking up loads of room, and can get a bit overwhelming if you have been over enthusiastic.  However, if you have lots of space and a big greenhouse or conservatory that won’t be a problem. 

Tomatoes 

I am growing quite a few tomato varieties of the trailing kind in containers and hanging baskets., ‘Cherry Falls,’ ‘Tumbling Toms’ and ‘Tumbling Belle.’  I am also growing ‘Gardeners Delight’ which fair better outside I find.  I feed them with tomato feed about once every two weeks, but it will be every week when the weather hots up; and snip out the side shoots from the main stem to promote bushier growth.  Some small tomatoes are appearing from the yellow flowers, but it will quite a few weeks yet before they grow and ripen enough to eat.  More on this with photographs later in the Season. 

I am also nurturing a small Calamondin orange tree, which is very thirsty and needs a lot of water. 

So, the motto of the day is feed, feed, feed and water, water and more water! 

Stay posted for my next instalment which will be all about summer annuals.