Greenhouse Goodness

July 18, 2016

2–3 minutes

cherokee purple, Diamond eggplant, growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, Olympic Peninsula gardening, Pacific Northwest gardening, peony poppies, stupice, sweetie cherry tomatoes, yellow pear

Pots filled with four varieties of tomatoes, ‘Diamond’ eggplant, and peppers are growing well in the greenhouse in our cool northwest climate. It’s starting to feel like a jungle in the steamy structure as good things ripen. I’m pleased to note that I started every single plant in here from seed. On February 28, I planted all the tomato seeds, so they’ve taken 4 ½ months to progress this far. This is an excellent, cost-effective, albeit slow, way to grow produce! Patience is essential.

These are ‘Cherokee Purple,’ the largest tomatoes I’m growing this year. I have six pots of these. and they have some time to grow before they turn purple!

These are ‘Stupice,’ a medium-size tomato variety perfect for our climate. I have five pots of these.

These are ‘Yellow Pear,’ which I’m growing for the third year in a row. Can’t beat the charm of these in salads. These fill just three pots.

The fourth tomato variety this year is ‘Sweetie,’ a cherry. This is a first-year trial, and I think ‘Sweet Million’ cherries did a bit better last year. I have four pots of these.

It’s also my first year growing eggplant at Coppertop, and three pots of the variety ‘Diamond’ are now in bloom. These will produce 6-7″ slim purple eggplants.

The peppers are lagging behind where they were in past years since I started them from seed, and they were slow to take off. Peppers will be a late summer/early fall Coppertop crop. The truth is, I forgot to label them and am unsure if they are mini red bells, poblanos, or jalapeños! It will be fun to see what grows. I may need to begin seeding peppers in the fall if I want them to ripen by early summer here.

I truly hope the dozens of pots of tomatoes I gave away are thriving as well as mine are.

With their pink faces pressed against the windows, these peony poppies are yearly volunteers. Their seeds grow in the gravel, a gift that keeps giving from Coppertop’s previous owners.

Healthy Digitalis or foxgloves in 1-gallon pots are the only other plants currently in the greenhouse. Hubby transplanted about half of them into garden areas, with plans to get more into the soil soon. But that’s news for another day…

2 responses to “Greenhouse Goodness”

Florence

July 18, 2016 at 8:37 am

March, I am green with envy – greener than your tomatoes right now. I, too, am growing Cherokee Purple, and also Black Krim, and I have one Black Prince, all in raised garden beds. I started my Black Krim from seed, in late March, and I am so proud that they have grown as big as they are. Cherokee Purple and Black Prince I bought as seedlings from a farmer who’s been supplying many of my tomato plants over the past couple of years. But all the leaves, especially of the Black Krim, have curled, and I see many little pests everywhere – they look like tiny fruit flies, and I squish them whenever I see one. They may be aphids because there are often ants in the vicinity. These little flies have also attacked, in a bad way, my bush and pole beans.
Your greenhouse fascinates me. I would so much love to have one. I’ll email you with some questions.
By the way, last year one of my Cherokee Purples weighed 20 oz., that’s 1 1/4 lbs.!

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1. March Picker
  
  July 22, 2016 at 8:12 am
  
  I’m so impressed by that hefty Cherokee Purple! I’d meant to grow Black Krim this year and will definitely attempt to next year based on your previous recommendation if I can locate seed. The greenhouse was inherited and has been instrumental in seed starting and growing heat-loving summer veggies and fruits. We may have to replace the thick plastic sheeting within the next couple of years, but other than that and replacing a couple of sliding window (plexiglass) panels that have blown out in severe winds, it’s been a no-cost structure for us. So sorry about your fly problems. Lots of great online resources should help you identify and treat those. It’s amazing we’re even able to grow any tomatoes with all the insects, rot, wilt, and cankers they’re susceptible to! My first couple of ripe Sweeties and Stupice are finallyready for picking. Happy harvest to you!
  
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Gardens at Coppertop