We had a great fall of snow in North West England last night, the evening of Boxing Day. A good layer quickly built up and coated the veg garden at the back of the house.  By morning it was raining and the snow was starting to melt.

Sitting under snow overnight may well finish off things like the green manure mustard.

I’ve had the green manure in a couple of the raised beds over recent months, with a view to mixing it into the soil later.  Once this snow thaws I’ll chop it up in situ with the strimmer and dig the clippings in with a spade.

In contrast, the proper overwintering vegetables will scarcely notice this weather. Being winter-hardy varieties, the Japanese onions and Germidour garlic are sitting happily, the onions underneath a mesh tunnel.

The garlic in particular will benefit from a spell of proper cold. It’s said that only after a period of below-zero temperatures does the bulb split into cloves. I’m not sure that’s the case: I’ve certainly grown spring-planted garlic which has split perfectly without a sniff of a cold day.

But there’s a definite feeling that cold does good things to winter garlic, so I’m looking forward to tasting this new (to me) variety in the summer.

Meanwhile it’s only a few degrees above zero outside: perfect weather for staying indoors perusing the seed catalogues, especially the pages with warm-looking things like tomatoes.. Brrr!