Three years ago we cleared some trees off our lot and built a 20x30 foot greenhouse. Sixteen dump truck loads of rock were placed to make a pad about 40x50 feet. Then four good sized logs were laid as the foundation. These logs are heavy enough to prevent the house from blowing away, we hope. 2x6 rough lumber was used for the framework. The fabric we used to cover it is made of 3 plies of UV treated poly. These plies are put together just like a cardboard box---the inner ply is corrugated which gives it a rated R value of 2.5.

I will not buy any tomato from any store and have not done so for over 30 years. Those store bought tomatoes are less than worthless and to us they taste terrible. We were spoiled I suppose by growing up where our parents had gardens. Once you have eaten a garden ripe tomato I don't see how you could stand today's store stuff. And here is the sad part: Almost anyone, anywhere can grow and ripen their own tomatoes, as we have proved, in 5 gallon buckets. It is even sadder to consider the price of today's tomatoes and if you live where there is a long season you can grow the big beefsteak varieties right in your house or patio. Makes me weep to think about it.

So, our main objective was to see if we could get tomatoes to ripen in our climate which is maritime rainforest. We get over 100 inches of precip annually mainly as mist and rain. Lots of overcast days so summer temperatures at night often fall to the mid-40s which is too cool for tomatoes thus the desire for some insulation. In addition to the rock floor we have 3 barrels of water inside which soaks up heat during the day and gives back this heat at night. These rocks and water usually keeps the house at 55 degrees at night. I've read that tomatoes simply stop doing anything when the temp is outside a range of 55 to 90.

The first year (2002) we experimented with just four varieties all non-hybrid. We tried two plants of each: Lucky Leprechan, Manitoba, Earliana. and Super Sioux. The last three did very well which gave us enough confidence to really experiment the next year with 22 varieties. All varieties were chosen from quick-ripening types of 75 days or less. The number of days stated means the time from transplant until you can expect to get some fairly ripe fruit. Thirteen of these plants were in 5 gallon plastic buckets and nine were put in a bed along the south wall of the GH. Seven of these nine developed a root problem and died. I suspect that some disease got started in that bed and spread to the other plants. We are far from any diagnostic lab or farm extension agent and I certainly don't have enough experience to diagnose many tomato problems. When a plant wilted I pulled it as soon as I noticed and all the roots were obviously very sick. We have stuck with the buckets because it seems the root problem does not spread from bucket to bucket. By the way, we start all plants from seed in yogurt cups on our home window sills in March and transplant them to GH in late April or early May. Then we keep our fingers and everything else crossed hoping to stymie any frost.

This year (2004) we selected 12 varities from the 22 we tried last year. We had a number of friends come for our "tomato fest" and asked them to taste test. This was a blind test. We knew what the names were but all others just knew a number. Bowls of sliced tomatoes were put on the table and everyone sat around with toothpicks and stabbed whatever one they wanted then did the smell/taste and wrote down the number and a score which was 1 to 5---1 lowest, 5 highest. Other finger foods were also on the table so you could clear your taste buds when you wished. I'll admit this is a very subjective method and I don't suppose it is surprising that one person would give a score of 5 while another would score 1 or 2 (or even a "Yuk") for the same tomato. Taste is not the only factor we used to select this year's varieties. Some plants were just gorgeous but did not bloom well or did not set fruit very well. One, Tiny Tim, had hundreds of fruit and was listed to ripen in 45 days, All other plants gave us ripe fruit starting about the end of August while Tiny Tim only produced a few ripe ones in October and these were not up to our taste expectations. Resistance to tobacco mosiac virius (TMV) and any other airborne disease is very important in a GH. And I suspect that some varieties just are not supposed to be grown in a GH.

Here are the 12 varieties we grew this year:
RED PEAR & YELLOW PLUM---both are salad type with fruit not much bigger than a large marble. No need to slice them, just pop them in your mouth. The YP is expecially sweet if you like sweet rather than acid. Both produce much fruit and seem to withstand cooler temps very well. We definitely will try these again. These plants are large---close to 7 feet tall and must be staked well.

MANITOBA & EARLIANA--These produce fruit 2 to 3 inches in diameter and quite a bit of it. M is listed at 60 days and I think E is about 50 days and has slightly larger fruit. The taste is pretty good and we've had no growing problems. Both will be grown again next year.

STUPICE & GLACIER---These plants look identical. Tall spindly plants so must be staked well. Taste is average; produce pretty well and are hardy. They are almost too big to do well in buckets so must be fed and watered more often. To choose between them I would select Stupice but our neighbor lady likes Glacier better. For next year we will select something else.

SIBERIAN MOSCOW---produces very well, is hardy and tolerant in GH, tastes average---not the best and certainly not the worst. Rated at 60 days. Yes, I will try it again.

PRINCIPE BORGHEZE & SALSA---Both are Roma (salsa) types, small, not juicy fruit as you would expect from this type. I'm going to pass up PB next year because Salsa did much better; taste, produce, etc. These are listed at about 70 days.

IDA GOLD---This one and the next two came from Idaho. This is one of the plants that survived in the bed where most others died in 2003. In a bucket this year it did very well. Probably the best tasting of any we have tried. Fruit not very large, about 1-1/2 to 2 inches, lots of it on so small a plant. When fruit (beautiful golden color) starts ripening you can hardly keep up with it. So far, I rate it a keeper.

GEM STATE---Red fruit about the same size as IG above. Subject to TMV but survived OK. Taste is above average.

NORTHERN DELIGHT---I might be wrong about its origin, it could have come from Oregon rather than Idaho. It is worth trying.

All above are NON-hybrid, meaning that if you find one you like you can save the seed if you wish. Sources of seed you can find on the internet are Victory Seeds and Heirloom Seeds as well as many others.

Next year will try most of these and will add a couple of hybrids. One such for sure will be EARLY GIRL. I'll be reading the catalogs soon and would appreciate it greatly if you have any suggestions, comments, tips or hints.

OTHER VEGS WE HAVE TRIED SUCCESSFULLY.

We have a few small plots outside because "dirt" is just very hard to come by here. And it rains so much that any nutrients are quickly leached out of the soil. These radishes have done very well. CHERRY BELLE, FRENCH BREAKFAST, GIANT CHINA and GERMAN are large and sometimes pretty hot. WHITE ICICLE has produced roots almost six inches long and very crisp. This year root maggots were very bad. What is your solution for this problem?

SWISS CHARD---any variety we have tried has done very well but GIANT FORDHOOK and RUBY RED are our favorites. In the GH both produce leaves almost a foot across. Forget lettuce, except maybe romaine, because swiss chard produces far more in a smaller space. Freezes well.

Turnips. SEVEN TOP just produces greens and tons of them. This variety will grow almost anywhere and will re-seed itself. Next year I plan to sow these seeds in old gravel pits near here just to see what will happen. These are about as hardy as any weeds so they may go "wild". PURPLE TOP GLOBE---This year our nephew brought a small jar of seeds from Oklahoma and I planted a small bed in June. We harvested greens in August and got decent sized turnips in October and were giving them away as well. If you don't know about turnip greens you certainly should. They work wonderfully well as a mild laxative. They have a lot of folic acid, fiber and vitamins.

Mustard. This, like turnips, is almost a weed but spicy and very worthwhile to grow outside. It cooks well but loses much of the spicy taste when cooked. Add some to tossed salad and you will get a surprise taste every few bites. TENDERLOIN is one variety I like very well.

If you will let a few plants of mustard, turnips, chard and kale go to seed you will never have to buy seeds again. They are so easy to harvest. Just cut off the entire stems before the seed pods dry and put them in plastic garbage sacks. Hang the sacks on a wall (I use two nails) with tops open so moisture can escape. When the pods are dry and brittle put on some gloves (I use leather palms), reach in and start rubbing a handfull of stems, pods, leaves between your palms. The seeds are very small and almost black and will fall to the bottom of the sack. The larger sticks you can pick out then pour what is left into a small bucket. You have lots of seeds and much trash (old leaves & seed pod husks) in the bucket. I shake the bucket which causes the seeds to work to the bottom leaving the trash on top. Blow gently and this trash will mostly fly out of the bucket. Keep shaking and blowing until you have winnowed your seeds. Put them in a small jar or old pill bottle. I try to make sure to put a date on the bottle because I don't know how long they will stay viable. I save new seeds every year. Chard has much larger seeds. I believe mustard & turnips will cross if you plant them fairly close together as will different types of chard. You may get some funny looking plants. I give seeds to anyone in the community that wants to try them.

Kale. RUSSIAN/SIBERIAN does well here outside or in GH. There is another one I've tried but not sure of the name because seeds were given to me. It may be PURPLE KALE because the leaves are dark blue, almost purple and they are very curly. Kale is rated to be tops in many nutrients. We do not care for it cooked and have not tried freezing it. It is winter hardy, meaning that we have let it freeze in GH and next spring it starts growing again. Maybe we need recipies from someone who knows how to use this beautiful plant.

Wilted salads!!! Most of the time we pick our greens and just have tossed salads, but sometimes we make a wilted salad. Pick a mixture of greens and wash them. This recipe has endless variations. In skillet put some (2 Tbsp to 1/2 cup) bacon fat, vinegar (we prefer Seasoned Rice Gourmet), soy sauce, hot sauce if you like, dash lemon or lime juice, and get it all to boiling. Awhile ago you fried the bacon and boiled some eggs and have chopped or crumbled them over the salad. When liquid in skillet is very hot pour it over salad trying to make sure every leaf is "wilted" meaning it needs this hot liquid on it. You be the judge on how much of each ingredient you like but you need enough hot liquid to do a good job of "wilting". If you make a salad for two people I'd say about 2 cups of liquid and a salad for four with 2 big eaters you may need 4 to 6 cups. If you like it very pungent (acid) use more vinegar or citrus juice. You like it more spicy or hot use more of those flavors. And especially important: If you find a combination of flavors you like then tell me about it. I'll bet you could add anything fron anchovies to zebra tongue (a to z) and you could hardly go wrong. In any case, your taste buds will be titillated. Titillation is good isn't it?

Potatoes. The only real test we have done was in a new garden spot last year. We planted YUKON GOLD and some plants yielded 5 lbs. Some of these were 4 inches in diameter and we made our own potato chips which were delicious. They have pale yellow colored meat, are very firm and I can't find any bad fault. We just don't have room enough and do not eat that many spuds anyway. One of my favorite breakfasts: Zap any spud of your choice (sweet, yam, irish, purple or whatever) then slice it down middle, load it with some butter, grated cheese, maybe scrambled egg, maybe several dashes hot sauce, maybe left over chili (no beans) then do glutton impersonation. If spud not too old with tough skin be sure to eat the skin also. If skin pretty tough eat it with jelly pretending it is piece of toast. For cheeses try old Monterrey Jack, very old (7 years a least) sharp cheddar, "aged" (a year or more) basil/dill flavor. But then I am a cheese lover. I am not on commission but I can tell you where to get some wonderful cheese: Washington State University Creamery at Pullman, Wa. Look on internet. It ain't cheap at 15 bucks for about 2 lbs but you can't expect quality to be cheap. Quantity is what you get at MacDonalds---not quality.

HERBS: In small planter boxes we have lemon tyme, savory, parsley, rosemary.

We've had very bad luck with any type spinach we have tried and that has been a big disappointment to us. New Zealand spinach grows ok but it is not really spinach and has small leaves. While living and gardening in Idaho we grew a spinach variety that had large and very curly leaves, was hardy and did not bolt easily. Dang blast it! I forgot the name and where to get it. Can anyone help me on this one? Feel free to suggest some variety you have had good luck with. Also, we would like to have onions and garlic but can't seem get them to grow. Perhaps some things simply will grow in our wet, wet and cool climate.