48. Greenhouse Update

A quick shout out to my mini “greenhouses”. We have had really bad late frosts for the last four weeks, and they have played havoc with the early spring progress in the garden. Many of the fruit trees are in full spring blossom which may then affect their crop later in the season. It has caught a couple of my proteas - the leucadendrons seem particularly susceptible to frost. It has made the kitchen garden seeds very slow to germinate.

But the mini greenhouses are doing their job splendidly. They are currently filled with garden centre-bought small plants, all hardening off, ready to be planted out when the frosts pass. The boxes insulate them beautifully. I keep them stacked up outside the kitchen door with their lids on, covered for most of the day but with lids off for a few minutes at the sunniest point to give them some fresh air. So far so good. The plants are growing well, keeping moist and staying very healthy while hardening off safely at the same time.

I am about to start potting up those seeds which have germinated and will be storing them in more of my mini greenhouses. It seems to create the perfect warm, protected environment they need. These boxes are definitely one of this season’s success stories.