Saturday, August 27, 2011

Winter Window Harvest

At the end of our New Zealand summer growing season, I planted some eager tomato volunteers for my first ever experiment with growing tomatoes inside.

My winter window tomatoes then...
Garden Indoor Tomato.jpg
I thought the weedy one on the right was not going to live.


 My winter window tomatoes now!

Tomatoes_winter.jpg
The weedy one is still weedy, but gave me my first ripe tomatoes.

I've eaten two of the tiny red ones, and they are sweet and juicy.  Success!

Tomatoes_ripe.jpg

Here's hoping all those big green and rosy-green ones get really red too.  Winter is ending and the sun in that window is getting even stronger.


Tomatoes_almostripe.jpg

I did not use a growing light as is commonly recommended, as I was aiming for a minimalist experiment.  With two small children also at floor level, I didn't want to invest in tricky, interesting and expensive equipment.  I did my best to provide light for as long as possible during the day, and artificial light in the evenings.

Will I do this again next winter?

This may depend on whether those big greenies get ripe for me.  The obstacle course at the end of the dining table was not always welcome.  I'd get a better return from several small herb pots.
 
What would you grow in a sunny window?

2 comments:

  1. Aha, familiar looking solanum plants!!! Congrats on the harvest! I was amazed to find my backyard banana busily ripening three bunches with due dates that look like: soon; maybe a month; and not sure yet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love you contraption for the window. That is a really neat deal. I do a lot of gardening myself and I admire innovation whenever I see it. Are those Organic Tomatoes? What stuff did you use? Anyhow. Glad the tomatoes turned out sweet and juicy.

    ReplyDelete