It may have snowed on the blog during December, but so far this wet and windy winter has been quite gentle to the museum allotment. From up here in the herbarium tower it’s looking quite green down there in the museum courtyard.
Some of the greenery is from perennial plants such as the strawberries which are waiting for the spring, but there are also plenty of over-wintering crops such as kale, winter cabbage and kohl rabi.
There are also little spearheads of garlic (Allium sativum) emerging from out of the compost. Despite needing sunshine in the summer and well-drained soil to keep away the damp, it’s said that the flavour of the garlic inproves if it gets a winter chill. There is still plenty of winter to come if you want to try growing it at home.
