A little bit of Spring inspiration from the Eden Project

https://www.edenproject.com/

Earlier this week I went to the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK. It's a massive botanical garden built up in a fairly hostile environment - a disused china clay quarry. The centre is home to a rainforest biome housing cocoa, coffee, papayas, bananas etc. and a Mediterranean biome with citrus groves. The centre aims to both educate and inspire visitors and I certainly left with a spring in my step and a desire to get planting!!

The project aims to appeal to all the senses boasting scented gardens, colourful exotic plants, a vegetable patch and an area dedicated to utility plants for dyes, biomass and medicine.

The sheer number of plants still in leaf just goes to show how a little bit of effort during the Summer and Autumn can really pay off in the miserable months of January and February! Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on who you ask!) we ate all the plants last August so we don't have any Swiss Chard left in the boxes! Although there are a few leeks at Radar which really ought to be eaten soon. Maybe we should prepare them for the next Adopt A Box meeting on the 13th of February - http://www.facebook.com/events/247308762068301/

At this next meeting we'll decide what plants we should focus on for the box project this year. Tina who is unfortunately unable to come made the following suggestions

Kvælstofsamlende kasse med ærter og dild eller bønner og persille

Kartofler og morgenfruer

Hvidløg,  rødbeder og tallerkensmækker

Bi/grøngødningskasse (ex: blodkløver og solsikke)

Porre, gulerødder og hjulkrone

Hope to see some of you at the meeting next Wednesday! Otherwise, hang on in there, Spring is just around the corner! Soon the tulips will be out (we've got about 70 waiting to be put in the Adopt A Boxes that are still on the street!)