Greenhouse Gardening Tips

Pests, Worm Castings and Algae

What are Worm Castings?

Before we get to greenhouse gardening algae, let's talk about a shopper on Amazon that complained about bugs in her worm castings. If you don’t speak garden lingo yet, worm castings are simply worm poop. They are mixed with soil in garden beds or in pots to make tomatoes grow faster, stronger and healthier. And just in case you missed the memo, worm poop comes with bugs of its own. The good ones.

Greenhouse Growing is Planning for the Future

I am eating a lot of Kale and Bok Choi from my cool Greenhouse Garden right now.  The winter-sown spinach is suddenly starting to explode as the days get longer too. There are still a few beets and carrots in the greenhouse and the season of overlapping crops is about to begin.  This is a normal life with a greenhouse growing.

So Many Tomatoes, So Little Space

Greenhouse tomato growers are rightfully confused when they see so many kinds of greenhouse tomatoes for sale. Karen Olivier, an independent tomato breeder from the Secret Seed Cartel, estimates there are 20,000 kinds of tomatoes listed right now and she is adding to that number by breeding new tomatoes every year.

A few years back my greenhouse tomato leaves were purple, yellow and spotted. Not all at once, but over time and on different leaves. It was the second year I was growing in my greenhouse and the commercial potting soil I bought was low on phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium. The leaves on the plants were telling me what was going on. And it didn’t look good.

Before you Order Seeds or your Hobby Greenhouse, Read the Fine Print

Why I started growing in my Greenhouse Garden a few of my favourite plants stopped working for me. That's what I learned to read the catalog fine print and adapt my shopping for a better hobby greenhouse growing. 

Is patience a virtue?

Some gardeners wait for the sun to gently warm the soil before they start their garden. Others are impatient.

A new crop, discovered in a seed catalogue last year, piqued my growing interest. I grow lots of vegetables but growing Sesame seeds didn’t occur to me until I saw them listed. I'm excited to try something new I ordered it right away.

My go-to recipe

My potluck arugula salad is sprinkled with jewel-toned tropical pomegranate seeds. My neighbour Barbara is excited and quickly tells me how much she loves the bitter taste of arugula. So I tell her I grow arugula as a winter crop and now she is all ears.

Soil Primer

If you are new to growing and subscribe to the "just add water" school of thought, then this is going to come as a shock to you. With terms like super soil, triple mix, natural soil and soil with no soil, it is certainly confusing for new gardeners to start growing in their greenhouse! How do you know what to use for successful, continuous growth? How do you get the best flavor in your food and the brightest colour in your flowers?

Saturday Morning Startle

It’s 7 AM and I’m having coffee in my cozy rocking chair waiting for the sun to come up so I can walk the dogs.