Growing Calendar - January

Don’t be fooled into thinking that just because the days are short, wet and cold at this time of the year that there’s nothing you can do to get your garden ready for spring – there’s plenty to be getting on with! , it’s time to put on an extra woolly jumper and a pair of gloves and get gardening in January.

• January is generally a very cold month with hard frosts freezing the ground although there are no guarantees with British weather.
• In an ideal world, we might have the plot dug over, limed or manured if required and the leaf  slowly forming in a cage. In the real world, any decent days are used in a last-ditch effort to catch up!
• Leeks left standing will be fine whatever the weather, but you may find them hard to get out of frozen ground or taking up ground you want to dig or manure. In that case draw a shallow trench, dig up your leeks in good weather and trim the roots. Lay them in the trench at an angle so most of the leek is out of the trench and cover with loose soil. When you want some, just pull without any strain,
• Parsnips and Swedes in the ground can come up when you are ready, cover with fleece or straw to stop them freezing solid into the ground. Kale and winter cabbage at least should be available and Brussel Sprouts which may well go through to March. Celeriac may have stayed in the ground and even celery may have been kept under a thick mulch.