When it’s cold or wet outside there’s a limit to the amount of time I want to spend on the plot on preparation of beds or other infrastructure projects. And lack of forethought and loss of my polytunnel in the autumn mean that I don’t have a lot to harvest – now limited to cavolo nero, celeriac and parsley! So what other gardening related tasks are there that I can use to distract me from work?
I spent some time cataloguing my seeds (I’m a tad nerdy!) and then decided the best way to store them would be in order of their sowing dates. So I made 12 dividers that would fit into my storage box and dropped in the seed packets in the appropriate month for first sowings. For crops that I want to succession sow as soon as I’ve made a sowing I can just refile the packet in the following month and then it’ll be good to go again.
Last year I didn’t take on my plot until 1st April and had only known for certain a couple of weeks before that I was getting one so my early sowings were both not very early but also a little haphazard and not planned. I was then somewhat thwarted by a very wet April and a badly drained plot so didn’t get the best start. I’m hoping to be more organised this year and ready to go just as soon as I can.
I am a tad nervous about starting seeds in January and February in case they end up too far advanced before the weather is kind enough to plant them out. But hopefully my polytunnel will be finally in place and will provide a temporary home even for those crops destined to be grown outside in my raised beds or borders. But as I’m also nervous at my ability to successfully germinate and grown on young seedlings by starting early it gives me time for second sowings if/when the first ones fail. But one of the main reasons for wanting to start early is simply one of logistics – I don’t (yet!) have any heated propagators so my seedlings live on my kitchen windowsill and my spare bedroom. If I can get some of them ready to move on into the polytunnel or my garden lean-to before the main sowing months of March and April it will ease the pressure on limited space.
So what did I sow in January and have planned for this month?
January sowings:
- Babington’s Leeks
- Leeks – Musselburgh, Stocky F1
- Aubergine – Rosa Bianca and Black Beauty
- Goji Berries
- Kale – KX-1
- Caucasian Spinach/Hablitzia Taminoides
- Peas – Kent Blue, Charmette
February sowings:
- Peppers – California Wonder, Unicorn, Grueso de Plaza, Bendigo
- Chilli Peppers – Padron, Early Jalapeno, Hungarian Wax
- Tomato – Brandywine Black, Purple Ukraine, Chadwick Cherry, Iraqi Heart-shaped, Green Zebra
- Hops
- Peas – Kent Blue, Roi des Conserves
- Broad Bean – Karmazyn
- Red Orach
- Broccoli Raab
- Celeriac – Monarch, Giant Prague
- Shoo Fly Plant
- Tiger Nuts
- Parsnip – student (trying these in loo roll inners)
- Welsh Onion
- Crow Garlic
- Beef & Onion Plant (Toona Sinensis)
- Asparagus
- Flowers – Aquilegia, Hollyhock, Echinacea, Cosmos, Zinnia
Most of the above are destined to be grown to fruition (hopefully!) on my allotment plot but some will go into pots in my garden. My front garden is very neglected and is mainly covered with small slates so not much growing. I’d like to get some more pots of flowers and maybe even some edibles out there too.
When it comes to sowing seeds I am still unsure as to how many to sow. I am still (overly?) enthusiastic about trying out lots of different varieties and hopefully giving myself an all-year harvest. So I may only want to grow small numbers of each type of plant but it seems hard to only sow 3 or 4 seeds of each type. So I’m not going mad with vast numbers of seeds but am probably growing more than I need if they do all germinate and grow on to suitable plants for planting out. But my intention would be to pass on to fellow allotmenteers & other growers. I may even get some swaps – and then have to try and squeeze them. But all that’s looking ahead. For now I’m just feeling content starting to see my windowledges filling up and the first few shoots from my January sowings.
My Plenty Food Project 