Help! Empty greenhouse

[oldmillhousekitchen]

This is the first winter I have had a greenhouse. I have insulated it with bubble wrap and have a heater which is on 'frost watch' I don't really want to be heating the greenhouse due to the expense but can anyone advise the best edible things to get growing? Cheers Dee

[rustylady]

Don't heat the greenhouse if you're not growing anything. Total waste of money.

What plants do you have in the greenhouse at the moment?

[Penellype]

I've planted salad crops indoors already this year - lettuce, pak choi, pea shoots, broccoli (to eat as baby leaves), spinach and chervil. Most have germinated so they should be ok in a heated greenhouse.

[Two_Sheds]

I don't really want to be heating the greenhouse due to the expense

I won't heat mine either, I just grow things that tolerate the cold, in winter: I've got Winter Gem lettuces and Winter Cress in there, which I cut as and when needed for a meal. These were planted back in September ~ now we have short dark days, such plants may not germinate even if it's warm enough

[andy_j]

Onion, parsnip and leek seeds.....get them in early.

Also sweet peas for cut flower....sow them now

[Bill HH]

I have all my herbs in the GH at the moment, parsley, sage, rosemary and mint etc, also chillie and pepper plants, that i grew last year in pots. Your GH may be empty now but when you get going there will be all sorts of things you bring into it to overwinter. We are the right side of Christmas and you will soon be wondering just where you are going to put all the seed trays you have started.

[Bren In Pots]

I've got 'all year round' and 'Arctic king' lettuce in my GH border they were sown at the end of August then planted once the toms had finished. plus a bucket of carrots and some herbs non of which needs any heat.

[JoeDaStudd]

Last year I threw from kale and oriental green seeds in which did well until the snow forced the door open and covered half of the plants.
This year I had a load of lettuce still growing from a late sowing so I put them in there as well as a sprinkling of oriental greens (well reds and purples mainly this time).
As I forgot about the kale and seemed to get a load of end of season slugs eating the oriental greens its a little empty.
The oriental greens which did well (best to worst) where tatsio (was amazing), mizuna, mibuna (slugs loved it...), giant red, kia lan tasted great but a few days of warm weather caused them to bolt. I would include Komatsuna but me and the slugs ate them all before it got really cold so I don't know if they would do as well as the others.

[Snadger]

Anthing that grows outdoors during the winter will thrive with the extra protection of a greenhouse..............

[kathyd]

Early peas and a few broad beans. And perpetual strawberries to get a few early ones. And all the leftover bits and bobs I had lying around in pots cos I never got around to planting them outside in time.. a few shallots, beetroots, winter spinach, chard, and some cabbages.

[oldmillhousekitchen]

Hi everyone, thanks ever so much for the comments. I have now sown some cut and come again lettuce, although germination seems incredibly slow. I will definitely be planting herbs now Bill, I didn't even think of that! Will also give carrots a go. I make and sell jams and relishes so the more I can grow early, the better! Thanks again

[Paulieb]

This is the first winter I have had a greenhouse. I have insulated it with bubble wrap and have a heater which is on 'frost watch' I don't really want to be heating the greenhouse due to the expense but can anyone advise the best edible things to get growing? Cheers Dee

While its empty it would be a good time to give it a clean - if it needs it, especially if you'll be overwintering stuff next year.

Its good to clean it once a year anyway as it'll let in more light, and get rid of any nasty bugs that are hanging around in the crevices.

However, if it looks pretty clean and you've kitted it out with bubble wrap, then you may get away with waiting till next year.

[BertieFox]

I'm surprised lamb's lettuce or 'mache' doesn't get a mention. I find this a totally reliable and extremely hardy winter crop to grow and it will reward you for coddling it in a greenhouse. Ideally sow the seed in the autumn. I grow mine in modules and then plant it out five to a square foot in the greenhouse bed. Some varieties will make a central rosette around eight inches wide if given space. You can eat it as salad or just stir fry for a few seconds. I think it is delicious and it is highly popular in France. If you carefully cut the rosette leaving the basal leaves it will shoot again as well.
It thrives in the low light conditions of winter but goes on growing in low temperatures. I sowed mine just before Xmas this year and planted it out a couple of days ago. I would guess we will be eating it by early March.

[planetologist]

Space in a greenhouse is so valuable that I think it really makes sense to try and use all the light that comes in by sowing overwintering crops about 6 weeks before the summer crops are expected to finish, which I guess would be about mid-September depending on what you grow. And also to sow summer crops indoors and progressively eat space for them among the overwintering crops as the summer crops grow. In my book summer crops tend to be solanaceae (tomatoes and aubergines), and Masanobu Fukuoka suggested that growing two crops of different families in the same space can work year on year. Though his examples were grains, solanaceae diseases tend not to be soil-born, so I'm hopeful it will work for them as well. After a gap of two years I only just got a new greenhouse, so I don't have any hard data.

[polc1410]

Hi everyone, thanks ever so much for the comments. I have now sown some cut and come again lettuce, although germination seems incredibly slow.

When did you sow it? Yesterday you hadn't sown a thing today its sown and incredibly slow??

I make and sell jams and relishes so the more I can grow early, the better! Thanks again

What? Relishes and Jams are a way of preserving things before they go off. Early crops are for putting in your mouth fresh from the plant! Don't waste your premium growing space on jams - use it for ultra fresh fruit when it would cost premium in shops or isn't otherwise available.