We're keen to grow as much food as we can on our tiny patch of garden this year - we didn't do badly last year, in between a few beetroot, a very few runner beans, plenty of herbs, a few potatoes (after a thieving neighbour had the majority!), a few chillis and masses of lettuce (both thanks to far lovelier neighbours) and of course the stealth tomatoes. This year is going to be more of the same, plus a few extras we hope. One thing we always have problems with is actually bgetting seedlings to the point at which we can put them in the ground as sturdy little plants - we have very little space warm enough to bring them on - windowsills indoors are ruled out as HRH The Cat sees these very much as her territory, and anywhere outdoors is either too cold, or gets consumed by slugs and snails. We've been talking for a while about buying one of the small freestanding greenhouses that are available, and thanks to a timely tip-off from my Mum earlier on about them being in stock at a store not too far away at a bargain price (£11.99), today we took the plunge.
"Easy to assemble" it said - and on opening the box we found that was very much the case - everything slots together, it's all just push-fit, and it rapidly became apparent where all the different component parts fitted. The tubes seem sturdy, and een the mesh shelves sat perfectly flat on the structure, unlike one far more expensive version we have seen where they were already twisted out of shape long before they got anything stood on them. The hardest part of putting it together was apparently tieing the tapes to keep the cover in the place at the back...
Eventually it was done though, so we rearranged things a little on the balcony and dragged it outside
A perfect fit! It even leaves room for a chair to one side - the only thing requiring rehoming at the moment is the bay tree in a pot - everything else has found a space, either inside the greenhouse for temporary storage (the bottom shelf won't get enough sunshine to grow things in so will form a permanent storage space for our many pots etc) or elsewhere on the balcony. This evening may well be spent sorting through our seeds and deciding what to grow! All of a sudden the possibilities are endless! Although the £12 spend was unplanned, if it helps us produce more edible stuff, then over the next few years it will more than pay for itself!
Robyn
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