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From greenhouse to… gut?

From greenhouse to… gut?

I hate that phrase you hear on food programmes on the radio: ‘from farm to fork’. But what would the greenhouse equivalent be: ‘from…
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Charles Miller
Parsnip surprise

Parsnip surprise

This is the first time I’ve grown parsnips. They seem to be doing well, although I probably haven’t given them enough space, letting them…
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Charles Miller
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Courgettes v marrows

Courgettes v marrows

Only a week ago, I planted several lots of seeds from the bumper pack I bought back in January: courgettes, marrows and onions. I hope I’m…
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Charles Miller
Getting out into the sun

Getting out into the sun

It’s May 7th, the sun is out, and it’s hot too.
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Charles Miller
The caulis are coming

The caulis are coming

Yesterday my eye was drawn to the window by a sudden bright light in the garden. The sun had come out on January 30th.
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Charles Miller
At last: this is what a greenhouse should be doing

At last: this is what a greenhouse should be doing

I can’t help feeling my greenhouse has been underperforming during its first few weeks. So I was delighted to visit it today and see the…
Go to the profile of Charles Miller
Charles Miller
Go to the profile of Charles Miller
Charles Miller

A quest for shelf-improvement

So far, buying the greenhouse has been a bit of an extravagance. As well as the greenhouse itself, there was the cost of building a concrete base, and paying someone to assemble it. 
 
But from now on it’s going to be re-use and recycle — in other words, a return to my usual…

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Charles Miller

The mysterious allure of gardening

I wouldn’t say I’m obsessed with my greenhouse — although others might. But I have to admit that in…

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Charles Miller

Constructive decomposition: never buy fertiliser again

In line with my make-do-and-mend policy, I was hoping to make use of the compost heap I’ve been accumulating at the end of the garden over the past few years. Wouldn’t it be satisfactory if that could provide new plants in my…

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Charles Miller

Where’s that greenhouse effect?

I know that conditions in a greenhouse in South West London in early May aren’t exactly like the tropical rainforest. But I thought my new greenhouse might at least grow things as well as they grow on the window-sill in the kitchen. Not so far.
 
Here is my first crop…

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Charles Miller

Cutting those geraniums down to size

Many of the plants that I inherited from my mother are geraniums. But they were lanky — with long featureless stems leading to the odd flower or leaf at the top. They looked like creatures from a planet with low gravity.
 
Fortunately, my mother-in-law knows about…

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Charles Miller

Doing the bees’ work on cucumbers

Bees are in short supply round the gardens of West London, as my neighbour was remarking yesterday. ‘Do you think I need to pollinate my marrows?’ she asked. 
 
I really didn’t know, but it made me scurry off to the internet to see whether I should be pollinating my…

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Charles Miller

And here it is

The man came yesterday afternoon and put it together. By the time I got home, it was done.

I suppose I could have done it myself, but there are stories online about it being a mind-boggling puzzle. Even the greenhouse company said it would take me two days. They have a list…

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Charles Miller

A greenhouse in the making

I don’t have a greenhouse yet. But I’m getting one, and the process started this week. An old fence was replaced with a new one, and a concrete base for the greenhouse was built alongside it by three chaps who spent a day on the fence and the greenhouse base.

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