Whitstable’s Nigel Metcalfe on creating his dream greenhouse and passing green thumbs down from generation to generation…
Spring is finally in bloom. One of the joys of the season is enjoying the great outdoors – and one of the best ways to do that is by partaking in a spot of gardening. Nigel, 66, knows all about this. In the north of Kent, he spends his days curating and creating his dream greenhouse.
His passion for gardening came from childhood, when Nigel’s grandpa nurtured his green thumbs. ‘We used to live some distance from our grandparents, as they lived in Yorkshire. But whenever we visited, my grandpa would always take me to show me the garden and his greenhouse,’ he explains. ‘I was completely fascinated by the fact you could grow these things like tomatoes. As I got older, I would help him learn how to grow things, and he was a big influence.’ He knew that one day he had to have his own.
But throughout his life, he never had the opportunity to have one – while he did have a crop research company, it wasn’t the same as having a leisurely place of peace. ‘Once retirement came along, having worked all our lives, my wife and I really wanted to buy a present for something ourselves – and we decided to treat ourselves to a beautiful greenhouse.’ They have a sixty-feet long Hartley Botanic greenhouse, with a lighting system to extend the seasons, and even a canopy to sit back and relax under.
With his background in crops and his wife’s background as a scientist, they were the perfect pair to bring it to life. Over the past five years, they’ve filled the greenhouse with a myriad of different elements. ‘My wife uses it for propagating seeds, and I set up trellis and canes as well as planting.’ Along with the greenhouse, the garden has a vegetable planter, a fruit cage with soft fruit, and ornamental plants. ‘It’s a labour of love – we learn as we go along, use good judgement, and I even draw on experience from the olden days with grandpa.’
They also pride themselves on bringing sustainable practices into their gardening. For example, the garden utilises well-rotted manure from a nearby horse paddock. ‘We call it black gold! It’s nutritious, moisture retentive, and fantastic. It has transformed the clay that we've got into a really useful growing medium.’ Not only this, but they harvest rainwater from the property and use it to water the greenhouse and the other plants. ‘We've got a colossal amount of water that we've saved, which was a lifesaver last year with the hosepipe ban.’
One of the benefits of growing in the greenhouse is being able to enjoy products from garden to table. ‘I like growing the foodstuffs, such as aubergines, courgettes, peppers, chillies, cucumbers, tomatoes and melons. We recently grew cantaloupe melons in the garden, and we took one back to my 90-year-old mother in Yorkshire. She said it was the best melon she’d ever tasted in her life, which was praise indeed.’ With her father being the one to teach Nigel, this was a beautiful full circle moment.
Now, Nigel is the one teaching the younger generations. ‘My grandchildren often help us out – it’s a bit of a learning curve as they’re only six and eight. We grow things from seed, and when they come down every few weeks, they can see what they planted last time and how it's growing, which they love,’ Nigel explains. ‘There are no food miles, it’s all right here on grandad’s doorstep.’ He also helps his neighbour’s grandchildren too. ‘They also like to go in the greenhouse and pick the tomatoes – one of them said there's nothing tastier.’
Having a greenhouse has been immensely rewarding for Nigel, and he highly recommends it to those in retirement and beyond. ‘It’s good for your mental health and your physical wellbeing, plus you get something truly fulfilling out of it.’ If you’re thinking of flexing your green thumbs this season, this is your sign to start digging, planting and growing.
hartley-botanic.co.uk
Nigel’s top tips for starting your own greenhouse
Start simply – try tomatoes and cucumbers, or even vegetables destined for the veg plot like cabbage sprouts
Water little and often – set yourself reminders if needs be
Keep your greenhouse well-ventilated – this is especially important in hot weather
Make sure plants don’t grow too big – keep an eye on them, and move them outside before it’s too late
