Greenhouses are as British as little old ladies drinking tea in a conservatory on a Saturday afternoon. After all, the UK is home to two of the most <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eden_Project">well known</a> large <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kew_Gardens">greenhouses</a> in the world.
<p style="text-align:center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.remain-silent.com/cm/kewlstuff/garden.JPG" alt="Quiet garden" width="400" height="391" /></p>
It makes sense. We do love our gardens and we do love to grow our own produce, no matter how small - so it was a nice treat to visit a friend just outside London and to find out that she has a greenhouse and gorgeous garden.
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Inside she had a nice array of cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, salad tomatoes and peppers..they were growing bountifully and beautifully. By contrast, toms planted outSIDE the greenhouse were looking rather poorly despite the lovely warm weather we are having here.
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Her lovely cherry toms are almost ready to burst into an array of red..all being well I might be here long enough to chomp on a couple!
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The peppers look amazing, growing in abundance and without any pests or pesticides.
<p style="text-align:center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://www.remain-silent.com/cm/kewlstuff/greenhouse_toms.JPG" alt="Salad toms a plenty" width="400" height="391" /></p>
This is why I want a garden...I really need to get on this - anyone know of an allotment in the NYC/Brooklyn area I can rent?!

Not to mention, the lovely garden is teeming with frogs..who eat all the slugs - (who usually eat the plants), my friend has a compost maker in the back which turns their kitchen offcuts into 'organic' compost and her garden outside the greenhouse is abundant with herbs and fragrance from bergamot to rosemary - absolutely lovely.

<em>all images made using <a href="http://www.shakeitphoto.com">shakeitphoto</a></em>