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Steve Ott and Emma Rawlings

Jobs for January

Excitement at the thought of a new season ahead can lead us to rush into sowing seeds before conditions are right. However, if you can give your seedlings the light and warmth they need then tomatoes for the earliest crops under glass can be sown this month and of course there are plenty of jobs outdoors to keep you warm

 

January at a glance

Sowing now...
• Salad leaves
• Tomatoes (heated crops)
• Peppers
• Aubergines (see under cover)
• Summer cabbage

Planting now...
• Early potatoes (in pots)
• Fruit trees and bushes
• Rhubarb

Harvest now...
• Parsnips
• Celeriac
• Winter/Savoy cabbage

Locked doors help keep hungry editors at bay.
• Jerusalem artichoke

• Leaf beet
• Brussels sprouts
• Carrot
• Celery
• Chicory
• Endive
• Kale
• Leek
• Kohl rabi
• Winter lettuce
• Winter radish
• Salsify/scorzonera
• Spinach
• Swedes
• Turnips

 

Fruit in brief

• Continue to prune tree fruit provided the branches are not actually frosted.
• Check stored fruit and remove or use up any which are rotting.
• There is still time to order bare root fruit trees and bushes from the specialists and to get them planted.
• Apply winter washes to fruit trees to kill overwintering pests.
• Remove turf from around the base of trees to reduce competition from the grass.

Spread compost

Blanched seakale
Once you have emptied your compost bin what’s next? Traditionalists dig it into the soil straight away, but many gardeners like to leave it, evenly spread over the surface to allow the worms to do the work. This has three advantages; it allows the worms and the system of drainage channels they have made to remain undisturbed and it helps to protect the soil from the rain which over the course of the winter will wash out nutrients. Finally, it can help to suppress weeds – providing that the compost itself is weed-free! What’s your preference?

Make a heated propagator

To give your seedlings the best possible start in life when sowing early in the season, it is best to provide some gentle heat in a propagator. If you grow lots of seedlings a heated bench – either using soil warming cables buried in sand, or a heated mat – is a very good idea. A thermostat can be included as a refinement, but is not absolutely necessary and does require a certain amount of electrical know-how. Unless you have this it is best to ask a trained electrician to install one for you.
Otherwise a ready-made electric propagator, with or without an adjustable thermostat built in, will provide enough gentle heat to germinate most vegetable crops (15C/60F is adequate for most).
• More on making a heated propagator in the March issue.



KG QUICKIES

• Continue to empty compost bins and to place the material on the soil (see page 18).
Repair or replace bins while things in the garden are relatively quiet.
• Maintain paths and raised beds, replacing rotten timbers and removing persistent weeds. Top up organic mulches, such as composted bark or woodchip on paths.
• Check supplies of fertilisers and other essentials and top up in preparation for the year ahead.
• Insulate wormeries or move into a frost free place such as a shed, garage or polytunnel.
• Ventilate cold frames on warm days and remove yellowing leaves from crops as they appear.
• Make a hot bed (see page 63).


For lots more advice, see this month's issue, available to buy online!