My 'Stolen' Greenhouse

Through these posts you will see I refer to my stolen greenhouse. This is a greenhouse on the property behind the house we rent. It was full of rubbish and broken glass, panes missing and weeds to the roof. The back of it opens onto my garden.

Seeing that it wasn't in use, I went to the property and asked if I could use it. The tenants living at the house didn't have any interest and so I began using it in 2009. Since then, 2 different groups of people have moved in and out of the house and stare at me wondering what I am doing there, often cackling like a mental patient on my stool, covered in compost. Cackling because I nearly always take Ricky Gervais podcasts to keep me company.

The garden of that house has been wall to wall weeds and the photo used as my background here is of that. As this has meant I have to constantly fight a losing battle against them spreading into my veg patch I have internally justified my use of the greenhouse in return. I have knocked on the door a few times trying to get the landlord's number but always manage to catch them when they are not there.

Recently, yet another new set of tenants have moved in. This coincided with the weed jungle being hacked down and so has set me on edge that my squatting will soon be put to an end. Yet the tall wild flowers and tangle of mint which has grown around the glasshouse blocking access from the owners side were left alone. Let's hope I get to continue using this increasingly important part of my armory as there is no hope of me affording to buy my own.

Tangled mass

My name is Kitty. I moved to Iceland from the UK in early 2006. After a few years djing, running my art project and running riot I moved in with my partner and had a baby. Life changes and so did the country. I was already sick to the back teeth of buying overpriced overstored close to rotting 'fresh' vegetables in the supermarkets here, but since the crash (kreppa) the prices have skyrocketed and the quality plummeted even further.

Although most of the decade before relocating was spent in London, I come from the countryside and my stepfather always grew more varieties of fruit and vegetables than Bonús has ever stocked. I grew some vegetables in London whenever I had the rare space to do so but since moving into my first family home there has been space to do more.

Not being someone who does things by halves, 2010 was my second year trying to grow in Iceland and I took on 76 varieties, all of which I aim to discuss on here amongst the rest of the drivel I spout as time rolls by. The process has involved taking English ways of doing things and having to feel my way around, altering for the climate and availability of paraphernalia as well as bringing various seeds back into the country from shopping trips in the UK.

My interest in gardening has grown from many levels of enjoyment. Desire to provide my family with fresh vegetables, engaging the kids in how to grow things with the excitement which comes from it - as well as having somewhere to escape the family and gather my thoughts, have some quiet time. Honestly I can feel as exhausted and stressed out as I feel possible and 15 minutes in the fresh air and investigating what new development is going on in the many pots and beds and I am reborn.


Many Icelanders have been a bit astonished at what I have managed to achieve here and after getting regular calls for advice and visitors to the garden I decided to start documenting it. Anyone following my 'general' blog will be aware that with work, family, art and of course, gardening I don't always update regularly. But I have the best intentions.

Let's see if I can keep this going.

The way in which this blog unfolds will be all over the shop. Rants, advice, info, excitement, mobile updates, quick tips, photos... whatever. My idea is to spend the winter, whilst there is little practical gardening to do, regaling my experience of the last seasons, and my plans for the next.

Therefore I plan to use the labels pretty heavily so you have any chance of finding anything. I will also be cross referencing my own posts wherever possible to save repeating myself. So this blog won't operate as per a usual diaryesque blog, at least not until the Spring. So utilise the 'search this blog' on the right, and the labels.

I hope you get something from this, even if its only from a voyeuristic enjoyment.