Photographing In My Greenhouse

At this time of year it’s perfect for messing around in the greenhouse. It’s not too hot yet and on these cloudy and windy days it’s best to be cocooned up in the warmth of the house than battling it out sowing in the soil.

I have planted Potatoes, Onion sets and Garlic outside. I’ve also sown, Spinach, Arugula (Rocket) and Radish and some Carrots that didn’t show! But most of my sowings are inside the greenhouse. The list is too long to mention. I have a lot of seedlings to tend.

So since I’m spending so much time under cover and also I’m writing a series of features on how to vintage-up your greenhouse I decided to give a little corner of mine a vintage makeover. These are the elements I added.

A Mirror: I brought a mirror from inside the house and propped it up against the window. It’s perfect for bouncing light around the greenhouse and also comes in very handy for creating an interesting backdrop to a photograph. Think about what you can see in the reflection from different angles. In my case, blue sky, or union jack bunting. Either way I’m happy.

A Hat for Hanging: I do wear this hat, just not very often. I’ll only wear it if it’s very hot and I absolutely must work in the sun. Normally. I follow the shade around the garden and work there. But as a display object it’s perfect for hanging on my new mirror. I may even put it on more now that I can check if it looks straight.

Potted Herbs: There is no shortage of greenery in my greenhouse but Herbs a so lush and abundant that they give an instant freshness to any shelf. Of course they don’t need to be indoors. I chose Mint, Marjoram and Thyme which will happily live outside right now. But inside, they give a new greenness. Don’t you just want to clip them? And the stone pots in a wire basket. I found it under the sink last week when our sink was blocked and we were trying to mend it. Left by the previous owners – really.

Handmade Terracotta Pots:
I have lots of terracotta pots but I just bought these handmade ones. I just love them, particularly because of their texture. Once the Mint is planted out I can see some lovely Pelargoniums taking up residence in them. The feel very Mediterranean to me and I like it.

Big Metal Tub:
I have had this big metal tub (top photo) for about two years and I can’t really imagine growing stuff without it. It comes into its own when I need to go away for a few days and I can put my precious plants in there, half fill it with water and skip off safe in the knowledge that my plants will live!

And finally, some of the more shrewd amongst you will notice that I have French Beans growing in a pot in the corner of my greenhouse. I feel like I need to explain. You see, my children (bless them) like to plant things, well anything really. Last week my 4-year old dumped a whole packet of Cilantro (Coriander) into a pot, covered it with soil and drowned it in water. I don’t have the heart to correct so I just let it be. Back to the beans.

In early February, they (my boys) couldn’t wait to plant their saved French Bean seeds. They planted them up in seed trays with the beans halfway out of the soil. I secretly laughed and thought ‘there’s no way they will germinate in this temperature.’ You guessed it, they did. So we potted them on and on and on. And now they are so big they need a giant pot to themselves and it’s STILL too cold to put them outside. I think we’ll be harvesting beans soon!

Happy Gardening!