In The Greenhouse with Lila Das Gupta

We are not out of March yet but already my greenhouse has readings of 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius), which means that without shading, my seedlings are pretty soon going to fry.

The most economical method is to paint on white shading which comes in pre-measured sachets (a box costs around £5).  Credit crunch or no credit crunch, this all seems too much like hard work to me, specially the wiping off part at the end of the season.

"Parsnip seedlings in the greenhouse"

Some greenhouses come with built in shades (a good option to invest in when you make your initial purchase), but since mine doesn’t I’ve decided to opt for netting on the outside because I want to keep the inside clear for tall crops like cucumbers and melons.
In most cases running the netting along one side is sufficient (my greenhouse runs East/West, so I will be shading the south side).
The other thing I’ve noticed is the amount of watering I’m now having to do.  In addition to seedlings I’ve been starting off dahlia tubers in pots as well as gladioli and lilies.  All this is taking up two to three big watering cans a day, so the other thing I’ve done is to run a hose  (buried in the ground) from the outdoor tap, (don’t forget to use a double connector on the tap).  I now have water at the greenhouse door which makes a huge difference.  I also keep a bucket of water in the greenhouse at all times so that it’s at ambient temperature – remember that young plants and seedlings can easily suffer ‘root shock’ if you water them with very cold water, as it sometimes can be on a chilly day.

Essentially I now have 3 separate ‘temperate zones’ in the greenhouse.  The Vitopod propagator with lid is the warmest.  When the seedlings have emerged and are a few centimetres high, I transfer them to the bench which has a heated electric blanket.  After a couple of weeks on this they are moved to the bench on the other side which has no heating at all, but benefits from the overall effect of a heated greenhouse.  After observing your thermometer every day, you will soon get a sense of what 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius) feels like. This is what might be called a ‘cool’ rather than an ‘unheated’ greenhouse.  Once you are familiar with this benchmark temperature you will be able to instantly recognise if the greenhouse feels colder than usual when you set the heater in the evening.

The next stage will be to ‘harden off the plants’.  Since I don’t have the space for cold frames I’ll do this in a temporary plastic mini-greenhouse.

I’ve chosen dark, moody colours for this years’ borders (dahlia Dark Stranger, Western Pirate and Ambition, along with Gladiolus ‘Espresso’) to go with dark blues of larkspur, salpiglosis and amberboa and a spot of orange.  Since the bulbs and tubers are plants that provide an explosion of colour and drama, the plan is to sink them in to the border in pots wherever they are most needed then whip them out once they have flowered so that something else can go in.

All we need now is a hot summer.

There is still time to plant your parsnips.  Start them off in the greenhouse on wet kitchen roll between two plastic food trays or plastic coated picnic plates.  Once they have germinated (it takes about 2 weeks) plant them into a hole that you have dug out first into the shape of an ice cream cone.  Take the soil out of the hole and fill it with crumbled compost so that the root will have no stones or hard ground to fight its way through.

We dug up the last of our parsnips over the weekend.

"Digging up and washing the last of the parsnips"

Next time I’ll show you how to grow your own Christmas dinner using the greenhouse (just add turkey!)

In The Greenhouse with Lila Das Gupta

The big wave of spring sowing has started, but I’m still occupied with sorting out my small urban space since the arrival of the greenhouse. That’s the way it is in a city environment – every foot counts…
I had originally intended to put my potting bench in the greenhouse, but it doesn’t make sense to lose a few feet of valuable space when you only have 6×10 feet to play with.  Once seedlings start to be potted-on, the place starts to look like an airport departure lounge: lots of hanging around with no one going anywhere.
So, I spent the day doing battle in the shed, moving golf clubs that haven’t been used since Elvis was alive and giving away a snazzy lawnmower on Freecycle (you may remember I ripped up the lawn as part of the re-design).  The net result was that I reclaimed one side of the shed to use as a potting bench. Since I’m tall and do sometimes get back ache, I also invested in a staging bench that is 38” high, so I can actually do my potting standing up. That means much less strain on the upper arms and back (and I discovered along the way that sieving compost standing up is a surprisingly good workout if you hold your abs in!).  Where space is at a premium it’s important to invest the time and energy to get comfortable: somewhere to store your pots, somewhere to keep the compost, a bench that’s comfortable for your back, tools, scissors and other sundries organised and accessible. It may take you a little time to organise yourself, but like all things in life: start as you mean to go on.

One of the exciting things about having a greenhouse is being able to grow exotics.  Today I am soaking the seeds of Bird of Paradise Flower (Strelitzia Reginae) and Banana Plant Ensente Ventricosum.
Like mother, like daughter: the Bird of Paradise seed appears to be wearing a feather boa, expecting a night out on the town.   The banana, which can grow up to 20ft (6M), has a bouncing bonnie baby seed that is half an inch wide. Both have fairly hard outer shells and need to be soaked for 24hrs.  The seeds will both germinate without a heated propagator in warm weather, but since they both take weeks to germinate, any heat you can offer them from underneath will cut down on the risk of rotting.   On the subject of propagators, I’ve been testing out the Vitopod
for Gardener’s World Magazine.  It’s not the most economical model, but it’s certainly the best I have ever used of this type and is well worth the investment.

I have been reading Paolo Arrigo’s entertaining book ‘From Seed To Plate – Growing to Eat Italian Style’.  Paolo and his wife Alex are the people responsible for bringing us Seeds of Italy. This mixes growing tips with culture and recipes.
I’ve just made a batch of Lina’s Mint Syrup from the book.  Perfect if you have mint in the garden.
(This is a shortened version)
1 bottle of white wine (I used Organic Blanco)
375g (13oz) granulated sugar
2 large handfuls of fresh mint leaves
Heat wine and sugar together on medium heat till granules dissolved.  If scum appears spoon it off.
Allow to cool thoroughly then add de-stalked mint leaves. Place in glass jar and turn every day for 5 days. Discard leaves.  To drink, mix the syrup to taste with cold water and add a mint leaf.
Yum, makes you realise that summer is only round the corner.

In The Greenhouse with Lila Das Gupta

Today’s lesson is a very simple one.  When you go on holiday, or slip away for a few days: get someone to look after the greenhouse.

I’ve just come back from the most magical few days in Santiago de Compostela,  in north west Spain, for a surprise 50th birthday party in honour of an old sweetheart.
All was well in my world when I left.  The artichokes (Imperial Star, an improved form of Green Globe) were about to throw out their second pair of leaves.  My Lemon Drop peppers were looking perky.  The parsnips had pre-germinated.  I came back with a spring in my step, after a few days of warm weather, to find a desiccated battlefield strewn with fallen stalks.
My fault entirely.  Never presume that because you live with a man who remembers the date of the Battle of Manzikert
or how many elephants went over the Alps, he will remember that seedlings may need watering when it’s hot.
“Was I supposed to go in the greenhouse….?”

We usually have a house sitter during our summer holiday because of our two cats: now I know that this year I’m looking for a feline-lover who is also horticulturally minded.  Once the seedlings are out of the way there will be tomatoes, melons and cucumbers to look after. All my efforts will come to nothing if the greenhouse isn’t properly attended.
Years ago I worked at the British Embassy garden in Washington, D.C.  It was a very jolly group of gardeners and we often used to go out together, but no matter how tight we got, the head gardener Kerry Blockley always came back every night to attend to the glass houses.
So here endeth the lesson: greenhouses are like dogs, only get one if you are prepared to give it the attention it needs.

I am listening to ‘Dola, Dola’ from the uplifting soundtrack of Bride and Prejudice,  (gorgeous Indian woman meets arrogant, available, American Mr Darcy).  I needed to listen to the songs as an antidote to last night: a troupe of us watched ‘The Way We Were’.  At least in Bride and Prejudice she gets her man.   We are also bracing ourselves for a screening of ‘The Sterile Cuckoo’, a Liza Minelli classic that breaks your heart. The clocks go forward on March 29th. Slushy movies will then be locked in the cupboard until the autumn.