The Greenhouse,

is about growing matters, focusing on my greenhouse and potager. I grow mainly vegetables, herbs and spices but flowers have their given place too. From seed to table, this is the nursery for my living food, we cook a lot of delicious food and I say a potager is the cook’s best friend. The greenhouse makes it possible to grow essential, colourful, warmth loving fruit and vegetables even in this climate such as tomatoes and chillies. My main blog is Tyras Trädgård/Tyra's Garden. View my profile

Thursday

2011 NGB New Varieties-vegetables

This post  New Varieties... was originally uploaden by Tyra Hallsénius-Lindhe in the blog The greenhouse in Tyra's Garden





 It is always interesting with "new" seeds although I prefer the heirlooms. As a matter of fact I'm totally against F1 hybrid seeds. I must say I found a few very interesting veggies in this slideshow...gotta check it out! 


 

Monday

Tomato Stupice - Harvest Monday

This post Tomato Stupice was originally uploaded by Tyra in the blog The greenhouse...




This month of October has been amazing so far, still fairly mild weather and the colours here around me are stunning.While I drove home from my country house today, the sun was just about to slowly set, it painted the landscape with a pallet that was breathtaking. A lot of wow's and ah's were said but unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me.

'Stupice' heirloom tomatoes 


It is Harvest Monday at Daphne´s place today and this post is my contribution. These tomato are among the last ones out, most of the plants has now been brutaly cut down and it is with sadness I say that the tomato season of 2010 is definitely over.





This tomato plant 'Stupice' was the first tomato to set fruit and ripen and one of the last tomato to harvest. The total yield from 'Stupice' has been even better then I had anticipated. This really is a nice heirloom tomato, midsize, brilliant red and very tasty. The very last ones are all quite small but delicious. I can truely recommend it and I sure will grow it next year too.



I bought my seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and this is what they say about Stupice.



Don't be a stanger, do write something!/ Love Tyra

Ps Next year I'm going to be a good girl and weigh and write down all my harvest as Daphne does :-)


Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Harvest Monday - Red Hot Chili Peppers...most of them

This post was originally uploaded by Tyra Hallsénius Lindhe in the blog The Greenhouse in Tyra's Garden.



I harvested a lot of my chilies today because I gotta get the greenhouse ready for my mediterranean plants that I have out in the garden. You know I expect the frost to hit us any night now, I haven't  had any yet but I can feel it coming...brrr

 I said  Red Hot Chili Peppers...most of them in the title but...

No, this is not entirely true Capsicum annum 'Alban', 'Rocoto' and of course the 'Cayenne' are hot but the rest are more like sweet peppers.



Capsicum annuum ’Ferenc Tender’
’Yesil Tatli’
’Klari Baby Cheese’
 ’Alban’
’Marconi Rosso’
'Chervena Chushka'
and
the hot and beautiful 'Rocoto' with it's black seeds,
Joe's Long Cayenne still dressed in green.





'Sungold Select II' the sweetest tomatoes of them all, I think one of the plants had at least 300 very small and sweet tomatoes, what a yield! The chilies are Rocotoes, still in green.



These are a few of the last tomatoes from the growing season 2010...
it really was a great Tomato Year.


Harvest Monday at
A big thank you to our host.


- Press Share if you like this post. 

Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Saturday

'Black Cherry' Tomato - Russian Heirloom



This winner has it all!







'Black Cherry' - Russian Heirloom Tomato


This is the winner!

Of all the tomatoes I have grow in 2010 this is the one I personally like the best. Motivation?

1. I like the size - Small but not to small, one can still slice it.
2. It has this very pretty colour,  it is not very black more a lovely wine/bordeaux colour.
and  last  but the most important...
3.The taste - strong, tangy, sweet taste, just the way I like it!


I started growing this 'Black Cherry' in early spring, indoors at first in a small pot. Later in May I moved to plant into my greenhouse and gave it a large container to grow strong in. Added some ash and (Dolomite) lime to the soil and later on I gave the plant Biobact ecological fertilizer. In July when it was time for my sailing vacation I took most of the plant outside and let mother nature do most of the watering and it sure did, it rained from weeks. I do cut the leaves back when the plant grow too big leaves and by that let the tomatoes get the nutrition and at this time (July) I stop giving them any more fertilizer, I find that the fruit gets a bit sweeter when I do that.


~ ~ ~



Så här skrev jag i KÖKSTRÄDGÅRDEN tidigare i våras när jag hade beställt frö ifrån Baker Creek Seeds

Black Cherry Tomato  

Svart körbärstomat. Det låter som en tomat helt i min smak.Vackra svarta körsbärstomater, ser ut som stora, mörka lila druvor, de har den kraftiga rika smaken som de svarta tomaterna är berömda för. Läcker, vacker och ger bra avkastning. +75 dagar. Kan det bli bättre?

'Black Cherry' blev 2010 års vinnare i min alldeles egna tomattävling.
Otroligt god, fint utseende och fin storlek - en lagom stor munsbit.

 Välkommen in i KÖKSTRÄDGÅRDEN där jag skriver helt på det svenska språket. 




Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Wednesday

PIE & SEEDS




Harvest times in Tyra's Garden! It is indeed, I do have tomatoes in abundance - Can one get an overdose of tomatoes?

You can never get to many tips and ideas for your tomato harvest, don't you agree - this is a pie I made last weekend and I must say it was delicious.

PIE

Standard pie-shell filled with tomatoes, cheese and 4 eggs - that's was all!

 But I think it was especially tasty because I first 'sundried' the tomatoes on a baking tray in the oven for an hour at low heat. It really brings out a sweetness in the tomatoes and of course takes away consiberable amount of the water as well and that I think is good especially for pies and similar dishes. The tomatoes where a mix of all colour and sizes. From the smallest, the pretty red cherry tomato 'Sweet 100' up to a fairly large sized 'Calabash' tomato - the ugly one 
The cheese was a mature and very tasty Danish Danbo cheese with caraway seeds in it.


This is the basket I brought with my on my sailing holiday, A basket full of goodies. It is fun to cook on-board and even more so if you have fresh stuff from the garden to cook with such as onions of all different sorts, lettuces, herbs and tomatoes.


Plum Lemon, Sungold, Czech's Excellent  Yellow and Co.


SEEDS

Now when all the tomatoes are well-ripened and you have tasted them all it is a good time to harvest your seeds for 2011. I gently remove the seeds from the tomato and leave them for a few days in a glas of water, after that I clean them and dry them on baking/oven paper. The seeds then are store in a dry and fairly cool place until february when it's time to start all over again.





Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Thursday

Aubergine - Solanum melongena



I've just harvest my first aubergine for this season and  if I may say I think it it stunning...I feel like a proud mum. I like the flowers too it is kind of pretty don't you agree?


Now I have to decide how to prepare my little darling, usually I slice it up and gratinate it in the over with some lovely parmesan cheese on the top. When it is luke warm I add my home-made italian dressing... oh I can almost taste it now.



Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Peas, Love and Understanding



Sugar snaps – aren’t they just wonderful! Right now the Sugar snaps are ready to harvest and just as my asparaguses they seldom reach the kitchen. I just think they taste best straight from the plant, these succulent, sweet tasting darlings. However, I did harvest a bundle last weekend and served them ice-cold on the boat when we were out cruising and that was very popular…the captain loved them.





Monday

I'm taking 'Green' Leaves to a Higher Level

This year I'm trying to grow salad leaves above the ground in containers/racks and that is just to get to the lettuce before the slugs and snails does. First I constructed a bed above the ground just like the Mayas did in ancient times, it worked just fine but I think the construction was a bit weak so now I’m using a carpet beating rack and it works just brilliant. Each day I can now harvest fresh, clean lettuce for my dinner.




My new collander I got from my daughter Veronica filled with goodies from the potager. 


Crispy 'Tourbillion' seedlings


Red Wing Lettuce, an excellent mix from Baker Creek Seeds


Radicchio




Here is one of my friends and I can assure you it has still plenty to eat.




Harvest Monday at Daphne's Dandelion


Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape


Thursday

Waxing Moon

Lunar planting

or moon planting

A Waxing Moon, in the sign of the
Cancer - this is a good for germination

Cancer a water sign perfect for sowing leafy vegetables like Basil, Tomatoes, Dill, Brussels Sprouts,  Celeriac, Celery,  Kale, Seakale, Lettuce, Rhubarb, Spinach, Cabbages, Swiss Chard, but not the best time to grow fruit giving plants Aubergine, Beans etc. But when it comes to tomatoes then? It is Yes by the Synodic cycle (This is a good time to sow vegetables that produce internal seed bearing fruits. Tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers, chillis, pumpkins, courgettes.) and No by the Biodynamic cycle, well... I've already sown my tomatoes...



another post about Moon planting



Här är ett inlägg på svenska i Köksträdgården om att plantera efter månens faser.

Next full moon is on the 28th of April.


Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape





Wednesday

Purple Calabash Tomato - The Ugly One

This post, 'Purple Calabash Tomato - The Ugly One' - was originally uploaded and written by Tyra at the blog The greenhouse in Tyra's Garden


Who said that?

It's not ugly it's rather good-looking it has... character.



I just love this photo of Purple Calabash! photo: wikipedia.


Like most of the purple tomatoes they seldom win the 'beauty contest' and this one is not an exception with it's irregular form. I don't think it is a winner for gorgeousness but then who know 'Beauty is in the eye of the beholder'

A perfect tomato for the kitchen, makes a tangy and wonderful salsa for the broschetta. The flavour of the Purple Calabash is rich and intense like a slowly simmered tomato sauce. Fantastic fresh, thinly sliced on a piece of bread or why not make a tomato ‘carpaccio’, this Calabash tomato really shines in pastes and sauces.



Calabash 'Carpaccio'

Thinly slice the Calabash onto a plate, sprinkle on freshly roughly shredded Parmesan cheese, parsley, spring onion and chilli pepper (medium hot) add herbs of your choice and olive oil. Flaky sea salt and (coarse) black pepper.

~ ~ ~ 

Grow Calabash in full sun, keep the soil moist and well fertilised. Purple Calabash is an indeterminate variety. I start them indoors in March and place them in the greenhouse later in May, outdoors in June. Seeds from Rare Seeds.







The story says:
"In Thomas Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia, written in 1781, he lists tomatoes as produce common to Virginia kitchen gardens. Jefferson grew his tomatoes at Monticello in 1809 - the first summer of his retirement - and grew them until his death. The ribbed, bulbous, and scarred Purple Calabash tomato dates back to pre-Columbian Mexico. Here the Aztecs combined this "xitomatl" with hot peppers and ground squash seeds to make a salsa that would accompany fish and meat." Montecillo



 



Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Sunday

Azoychka and Goldsman's Italian-American with friends


My List of Tomatoes
 planted in March for the growing season 2010



A great collection of a colourful bunch of tomatoes in all forms and sizes. From the very small Reisentraube to the very large Cherokee Purple. Colour-wise all colours from the pale Great White to the really dark Carbon. It is going to be an interesting season. Right now they are not more than an inch or two tall but I hope by the end of april when it is time to transport them out to the potager or greenhouse they will be strong and healthy.  



Amish Paste
Azoychka
Black Cherry
Carbon
Cour di Bue
Egg Yolk
Federle
Ferris Wheel
Gardener’s Delight
Goldman.s Italian-American
Great White
Green Zebra
Nyagous
Orange tomato sp.
Pembe Domates
Pink Ponderosa
Plum Lemon
Promyk
Purple Calabash
Purple Russian
Reisentraube
Stupice
Sungold
Sungold Select II
Super Sweet 100
Sweet Olive
Tiny Tim
Tumbling Tom




 
Most of them are heirloom seeds from all over the world and one tomato that I'm particulary proud of and that is the 'Pembe Domates' from Turkey. A pink beef heirloom tomato that I got from a fellow gardener in Istanbul. Thank you A. Tansug.


Happy Equinox!




Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Tuesday

The 2010 plan over Tyra's Garden - Le POTAGER

'm out of my hibernation although the snow is still knee high my indoor veranda is now looking more like a nursery than a place to dine. It is now March the first month of spring! Sing Hallelujah...


I have made a brand new plan over my kitchen garden. I have been up in the 'summerhouse' to practice my artistic vein, here using aquarelle colours, photography and computer for my garden plan. 

~~~

A new season and a new plan.

I say...



Welcome to the growing season 2010

                                                                                              
                                                                        Entrance      (You can click to enlarge.)



 Way out to the Garden




Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Sunday

A February to Remember




This February will weather-wise go to the history, never ever have I experienced anything like it. This is something I will tell my grand children about when and if I get some. Snowy, cold and windy and where is the sun? Today the sun came out for an hour so I grabbed my camera and went out in the garden. As I entered the greenhouse I noticed that I even have snow in my greenhouse! My large copper water container is totally deep frozen and the glass windows are covered with beautiful roses of ice.
The tulip are from indoors, I just added a splash of colour into the collage. 


This is how my 'header' looks like in February 2010.



I hope that I by the next post here in 'The Greenhouse blog' I have ended my hibernation for this year.


TYRA

Monday

Welcome February!


Still hibernating...



The winter still have a firm grip over my little plot in life.

I have heard about the No-dig Garden this must be it :-)










But I must say Welcome to February I'm so glad January is gone...finally!







Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape

Saturday

It is freezing cold! - Hibernation

This post 't is freezing cold - Hibernation' was originally uploaded by Tyra in the blog The Greenhouse in Tyra's Garden



"Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve energy, especially during winter when food is short, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate. It is the animal's slowed metabolic rate which leads to a reduction in body temperature and not the other way around." Wikipedia

The cold house...


What a glorious winter day, sparkling snow crystals and clear blue sky, it is heavenly beautiful but…freezing cold out there. I went out for a stroll in the garden and paid a visit to for the season a bit neglected greenhouse and it was very cold in there as well – 6 degrees C. (21 F) ‘indoors’. I wonder if any plants will survive this winter.



I think I'm going to make a nice cup of chocolate and take a look in one of my gorgeous seed brochures.


Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape