It's hectic: The greenhouse is exploding, and the garden is demanding attention; I feel torn between two lovers (I know, I know, not all eyes will weep for me . . .).

The Taj Mahal is finished on the outside, and I'm pleased with its appearance:

I simply didn't have time to complete applying the stone veneer with my helpers, and ended up hiring a mason to finish the job. The 2 x 4's visible along the left side of the building were attached to the kneewall before the veneer was put up; they support screw eyes for tying down the shade cloth that will cover the greenhouse when hot weather sets in, as shown in the trial run below:

The cloth is "Aluminet," which I chose over the traditional dark-colored shading materials because it reflects not only light but also heat. Being inexperienced, I went along with a 50% shade rating, which seems to be the accepted value for a wide variety of plants. I hadn't planned on installing the cloth for a while, but had to put it on for a few days during a mini-heat-wave in April, when the temperature inside the greenhouse soared into the 90's, even with the exhaust fan going flat out. Fortunately, the weather returned to a more moderate level, and I was able to take the cloth down.

I've planted twenty-two asparagus crowns in the raised bed along this side of the greenhouse, and nineteen of them are showing a week later. Have to confess I'm a bit nervous about my decision to site the asparagus here, rather than in a bed open on all four sides: Obviously, I'll have to walk on the bed to install/remove the shade cloth, which is not good, and because the bed is four feet wide, I won't be able to reach across it for weeding, etc. Time will tell. . . but of course, time is a precious commodity when starting a new asparagus bed!

But let me show you what's been going on inside --- I almost feel I should carry a whip, like a lion trainer:

 

The photo on the left shows the peas, in the foreground, which are on their last legs but still producing pods, as they have been doing for over two months. Behind the peas is the monster cucumber vine, and the tomatoes, laden with green fruit. The gorgeous beauty shown below is one of the first fruits to ripen.


Now, imagine my dismay when I tried one of these dazzling fruits and discovered it was absolutely tasteless --- worse, even, than supermarket tomatoes! AHHH, how is this possible?! I only hope that my impatience drove me to sample an incompletely ripe one. . . otherwise, look out tomato plants! (I have two other varieties, so all is not lost, I trust.)

 

This jungle of a cucumber vine on the right is a good twelve feet long: it goes up to the roof, then down half-way, then up again. Originally, there were two vines, but I prudently removed one when I realized there wasn't enough room in the greenhouse to hold both of them without a death struggle. I've been eating cukes and giving some away for a couple of months, and these are absolutely delicious (did you hear that, tomatoes??).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm still picking green beans, enough for a good serving every three or four days --- this is from four plants. And the carrots are ready, although I haven't had time to do much with them yet. On the non-edible front (the other side of the greenhouse), things look much tamer:

 

 

 

Here are mostly seedlings, and caladiums for transplanting outside. I have cyclamens and begonias under the bench to keep them from burning up. The droopy plant in the blue pot on the shelf is the 'Don Gillogly' avocado; sad as it looks, it nonetheless has set four avocado fruits. This is my first experience with avocado, and I don't know what to expect: the plant looks so ratty, but the fruits are developing. There's a good bit of new leaf growth showing, so who knows, maybe I'll have my own avocados a few months from now??

The ladder in the background is needed to pick cucumbers(!)

 

One of my experiments was this sweet pea (Lathyrus belinensis) from Thompson & Morgan. I knew nothing about it except that I found its catalog photograph irresistible; the photo below is my own, but it shows the delicate attractiveness of the flower.

  Unfortunately, the plant has been in decline since these pictures were taken; I'm assuming it's because of the increasing temperatures, since sweet peas generally like cool weather. I'll try growing it again in the fall.

 

Five months' of greenhouse experience has only whetted my appetite. My success with peas, beans, cucumbers, and salad greens has led me to scrap my original idea of putting a small pond in the greenhouse in favor of extending the raised bed to accommodate more of these crops during the cold months. And since all the water plants I want to grow are hardy, I'll put in an outdoor pond instead.

In the next installment, I hope to tell you that greenhouse tomatoes are worth the trouble . . . .

 

http://www.faculty.sbc.edu/simpson/Greenhouse/Part 16.html
This page created by Margaret Simpson
Last modified 08/10/2007