Winter in the test garden

This is an exciting time for the Bay Area—the acacias, magnolias, flowering cherries, and flowering plums are all in bloom!

Sadly, we have none of those in the test garden, and it’s as slow as can be out there. To top it off, I’m feeling some disappointment about this year’s big winter veggie garden. Last year brought us this looker:

This year I have a bunch of stunted cabbage and bolting broccoli. Did I not add enough compost? Did I start things too late? Can I blame the weather?!

Ok, slight exaggeration—things look all right. Actually, the kohlrabi looks killer.

Without flowering trees, or a traffic-stopping keyhole garden, I look for beauty in smaller, less obvious places. Here are a few examples of pretty spots that are carrying me through the winter:

Purple mizuna

Kale ‘Winterbor’

Recently germinated ruby orach (Learn about it here)