Kitchen Garden Magazine

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Jobs for December

December is a lovely month in the fruit and vegetable garden. It may be a bit nippy and the handle of the spade tends to bite if you haven’t got your gloves on, but the fact that the land is at rest and overwintering crops growing at a snail’s pace means we have time to catch up and to plan for the season ahead

KG quickies

• If you have decided to try the no-dig method cover bare ground with well-rotted manure or compost to protect it from the rain and leave it for the worms to incorporate

• Decided to stick with the spade (well it is a good winter workout)? Then keep up the digging, but just a small patch at a time to avoid strain and be sure to remove the roots of perennial weeds

• This is a good time to assess the plot and to decide if the ‘useful’ things you have been hoarding all year are really worth keeping or are just a harbour for pests. If you have diseased plant material to get rid of, old timber may be put to better use in lighting a good, hot fire!

KG top tips

• Clean and oil those tools such as spades, hoes, shears and secateurs. Sharpen blades where appropriate or replace if too worn or notched

• If you sowed a batch of broad beans or peas outside last month for cropping in May or June, check that cloches are still in place and that weeds are not threatening to take over.

• Order your seeds for 2009. If you’ve been keeping a crop diary through the year, use this to help you decide what to grow and what to avoid. If you’ve had any pest or disease
problems this year, check the catalogues for resistant varieties. Don’t forget when planning to bear in mind crop rotation.

IN DEPTH: Prune currants

Red and white currants are easy to grow and very productive. Keep them cropping well by giving them some attention now.

They are usually grown as bushes, cordons or fans on a single stem. In the case of established bushes, pruning simply involves shortening this season's growth by about 5-7.5cm (2-3in). Follow this by cutting out one or two old branches which may have become unproductive or may be crowding the middle of the plant. These are cut back to a healthy, well-placed shoot near the base of the old stem. Next year this shoot will grow to fill the space. Any sideshoots growing from the main branches are cut back to one bud to encourage them to form fruiting spurs. Finally remove any dead, diseased, crossing or low-growing shoots.

In the case of fans, sideshoots are again cut back to one bud to encourage spurs and any main branches reduced in length by cutting back to a point just above a bud. One or two old branches can again be cut back to a healthy bud and replaced if necessary to keep the plant productive.

Cordons simply have their leading shoot shortened by a third of its length and all sideshoots cut back to one bud.

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

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