January in the Garden
The garden isn't very inviting in the winter months, it's cold, nothing much is happening and to be honest, it all looks rather drab out there. But that doesn't mean there isn't anything you can be getting on with, and January is the perfect month to start planning your planting for the upcoming year.
What to grow?
If you grew vegetables last year have a think about what you enjoyed growing and eating, what worked? What didn't? What grew easily and what was hard work? Look back at any notes you might have made.
Seed sort
Go through your seeds and sort them out, are they still in date? You can always give them a go if they are a little bit out of date - you might get lucky, but it's best to buy new seeds. Did you keep any seeds from last season? Can you do a swap with friends?
Plan your beds
Once you have made a list of what you would like to grow then it's time to start plan when and where you are going to plant them? We have been experimenting with the no dig system of planting, and will be rotating our crops this year.
Go shopping
It might seem a bit early to start buying seeds now, but judging by last year, vegetable growing has really taken off and lots of seed companies experienced unprecedented sales. So, don't snooze! Take a look at our selection for starters.
Tidy up
Clean out old pots, sort out your seeds, take care of your tools, and, if you are lucky enough to have one, give your greenhouse a good clean. This will set you up well when things get busy over the next couple of months.
We are still very much novice gardeners and sometimes it feels like the more we read, the less we know! But every year offers a new opportunity to learn - from the failures, as well as from the successes, and in our (limited) experience, vegetable gardening gives a lot more ups than downs! We can't wait to get stuck in again. We'll be sharing the ups & downs of our growing year with you here, and on Instagram, we do hope you'll share yours with us too.