13 September 2009

Greenhouse gleanings

The greenhouse has been a real help for the more tender crops this summer as the weather has been cooler than we might have expected. Last year was similar: we had hardly any eggplants and none of the peppers ripened. With the additional heat captured inside the greenhouse this year I can't complain about either. This view of the centre raised bed shows the bumper crop of Corno di Toro Rosso peppers (with one of the eggplants peeping through towards the back of the shot).


I picked two pounds (850g) of these today and froze them.


Last year we had just one melon ripen in the garden. Which the dog stole because he thought it was a tennis ball. Well that's what I assume he was thinking. Maybe he just likes melons. This year we've had five so far and there are three more which are still green. The three in the photo are 'Golden Jenny'. The other variety I'm growing is called 'Tigger' and the fruit have an attractive stripy skin (you may have guessed this already). I like looking at both types - the Golden Jenny ones have an interesting embroidery effect on them - but I have to admit that I really don't like eating either of them. I'm just not keen on melons and the rest of the family are either ambivalent or hostile to them. I don't think I'll bother with them next year.


The raised beds in the greenhouse are so much a part of the garden now that they even have their own amphibians. This is the frog who inhabits the bed next to the water tank. This bed is now home to kale and broccoli plants (as well as the rainbow chard (and the clover (and the grass)) visible here) which I'm hoping will provide some winter greens for us. They've proved to be a target for cabbage white butterflies, so I'm relying on this frog to help me get rid of the caterpillars.

5 comments:

Emily said...

Those are beautiful peppers! I've had trouble with mine with the cool weather. One just began to bloom less than a month ago and now frost is a possibility this week. I'm going to try to bring it indoors and see if the fruit that has set will continue to grow.

Michelle said...

Gorgeous peppers, cute frog! My garden is home to lots of lizards. Even though I live in California, being only 10 miles from the coast keeps our summers cool and makes for late pepper and tomato harvests. Melons don't do well either, I gave up trying to grow them years ago. Fortunately, the first frost is still a couple of months away.

June said...

I would love to hear more about your greenhouse. I want to start small with one, but I want to start. I just feel that we need more heat for our heat lovers. I want more peppers. How much of your garden is under cover?

Amanda said...

Hi Emily - yes, the greenhouse has made a huge difference to the peppers this year. Frost this week? Eek!

Lizards would be interesting Michelle - we only get toads and frogs here. Oh, and snakes!

June - our green house is large - 30 by 40 feet (my husband didn't want me hankering after a larger one, so started big!). But at the moment we only have three raised beds in it, each one 9 by 5 feet. Hope to put some more beds into it next spring.

Lucy Corrander said...

Will you really eat that many peppers?

Wish I had a frog.

Lucy