Peanuts discovered in Human Nature Garden

The Human Nature Garden volunteer gardeners were delighted to discover peanuts growing when they began their harvest of this year’s themed planting ‘Going Underground’.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Oct 2014, 15:40 BST
Volunteers at the Human Nature Garden in Horsham Park SUS-141020-143931001Volunteers at the Human Nature Garden in Horsham Park SUS-141020-143931001
Volunteers at the Human Nature Garden in Horsham Park SUS-141020-143931001

Included in the scheme along with the ground/peanuts were salsify, potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes and oca.

Peanuts, a relative of the bean family, are an unusual plant as once the flower has been pollinated it then grows into a shoot and dives down into the ground to set it’s seed into what we know as a monkey nut.

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Another of the crops oca is little known in the UK as it is normally grown in Peru and New Zealand for it’s tuber. Easy to grow and disease free the crop can be eaten raw or cooked like a potato.

The crops will be harvested over the next few weeks and distributed, the garden based in Horsham Park will then be prepared for winter and plans made for next year’s theme ‘plants to help lower cholesterol’.

The volunteers work, with the support of Horsham in Bloom and Horsham District Council, every Friday between 10am and 12 noon and welcome new gardeners.

If you are interested in joining this small friendly group please contact Stephanie Carter through the Horsham in Bloom website www.HorshaminBloom.org.uk

Report and picture contributed by Stephanie Carter, Horsham in Bloom.

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