|
Autobiography | Ballet | Books | Dolls & Costumes | Gardens | Kinesthetic | Main | Rhythmic Dance | Spirituality |
Tomato Factory
Experiment
photos from Stan Schaap and Susan Kramer
Gardens sitemap
Pumpkin (Hokkaido orange)
experiment in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
NEW – Compost
Leaves in Your City Garden
Gardens
in Ojai and Santa Barbara Botanical Garden
Tomato Factory - small
hothouse experiment
Garden Green Roof
installation of sedums
Porch, pond and streambed
construction
Greenhouse
construction from a kit
Border gardens,
guerrilla gardening
Benefits of Gardening
Projects for Kids
Birds - Bluetits
- Pimpelmezen growing up
We thought you'd enjoy seeing the tomato
greenhouse that started as a cold frame! Last summer we had so much rain that
our tomatoes rotted before ripening, so this year we
hope to raise them beginning tomorrow in their own greenhouse. Stan designed
and built the greenhouse and Susan has raised 12 tomato plants from seed which
are now 7 inches tall. We'll add pix to this page later in the summer to share
the results of our experiment.
*****************************************************************************
1. April 17, 2005. Stan is showing
the finished tomato factory with a front panel that slides out to make tomato pickin' easier! The unit is against a south-facing wall.
2. April 17, 2005. Stan securing
the framing to tent-post type anchors buried below the concrete. The walls are
made of thin plexiglass.
4. April 17, 2005. These are 25
liter - 25 quart bags of compost which Susan is planting the tomatoes into
directly - 4 plants per bag. The 1 foot square paver is the step down into the
cold frame.
5. Below pix is our window box
garden from 2001 - outside our kitchen window in our apt. in Amsterdam - our
first try with tomatoes planted into bags of store-bought compost. This was a
west-facing wall but did not get direct sunlight - rather, only reflected light
from the building opposite the window.
6. April 18, 2005. About 7pm.
Today Susan planted the 12 tomato plants - see cuts in top of bag for plants -
this idea came from a BBC (British Broadcasting Channel) program.
7. May 8, 2005. The tomatoes are
growing well and the rest of the garden is in a strong Spring
growth spurt. A variety of agapanthus in the foreground.
8. June 12, 2005. A close up of
the tomatoes after 7.5 weeks in the greenhouse. That's Swiss chard in the
garden plot to the left. The tomatoes have blossoms now.
9. June 12, 2005. A close up of
the trellis-pergola made of bangkirai - from
Indonesia, similar to teak. To the left, the fan shaped trellis is supporting
grapes. Below it are strawberries. Going up the left hand vertical support is
the new wisteria plant. To the right in foreground is mature Swiss chard I'm
letting go to seed to be able to plant again. In the background sitting at the
table is Susan.
10. August 12, 2005. Tomatoes fully grown but still green. At the left is a green
bean teepee with vines that climbed to the top of the plum tree, and just a
little further to the left is the giant sunflower - see next picture.
11. September 10, 2005. Some or
our tomato crop - we harvested 80 tomatoes. We pulled up the vines and now have
red swiss chard growing for
winter. We'll put the top back on soon.
12. September 10, 2005. This
single sunflower (the flower about 5 feet off the ground) to the left of tomato
factory is a natural feeding station to our local population of coalmees - the largest members in the bluetit
family. See the ripe green beans hanging from the plum tree :-)
email and web site: susan@susankramer.com--http://www.susankramer.com
photos copyright Susan Kramer 2001-2010