To Do List – February

It’s midway through February, the Tete a Tete daffodils are up popping up along the allotment path borders and the alliums are showing themselves too. My Rhubarb is coming back to life as well which means my first harvests are now only months away. The year long wait is going to be so worth it!

I spent the weekend full of a cold, sniffles and sneezes galore, but that didn’t stop me getting up to the plot on Saturday. The double trouble teamwork was back out in force, ill or not, to finish clearing the mound and getting the beds ready. Our mission was accomplished and it feels so good! The plot is officially ready for Spring!

I also did a small YouTube video for you too, which will go live very soon.

There is still plenty I want to get done though over the coming weeks so I thought I would share my next list of activities with you, as well as a few added extras which may help give you some ideas too. Remember they aren’t jobs, as you should want to do them, which is why I call them tasks or activities.

• Finish my path border re-using wooden pallets
• Clear the main path and lay new woodchips (I do love the look of a fresh woodchip path, it’s so satisfying)
• Harvest the last of my purple sprouting broccoli
• Start sowing tomatoes and peppers indoors. Other seeds you can sow now are early variety aubergines, broad beans (made simple guide), salad leaves, early variety beetroot and leeks.
  Tip: Crops such as tomatoes, peppers, chillies and aubergines require a constant warm temperature to germinate and guarantee success so I recommend you use a heated propagator. If you don’t have one don’t worry, either wait until later in the year to start sowing or treat yourself to one in most good garden centres or online. You can usually pick one up for £15+
• Start chitting my potatoes on a cool windowsill to enable strong chits to form before planting. I use old egg cartons then position the seed potatoes so the end with the most chits is facing upwards. (Mini how-to video coming soon) You want the chits to look like these by planting out time.
  
• Remember to start taking my proper camera back up to the allotment again now the seasons are changing and colour is arriving
• Pot up my Taunton Deane Perennial Kale cuttings – I am such a proud mother of these little beauties and owe a huge thank you to Stephanie Hafferty too for the cuttings
• Cut down autumn raspberry canes if you haven’t already and give them a good layer of mulch
• Start sowing flowers such as early sowing varieties of helianthus aka sunflowers and sweet peas indoors
• Plant fruit canes, I already have autumn raspberries and salmonberries which I adore
• Finally, if you missed my monthly allotment & gardening radio segment on Drystone Radio, you can catch up now! Click here and zoom to 1:40:00 for the latest from No.27. Including tasks for Feb, RHS – Royal Horticultural Society events & the industry latest!

I’m going to stop there as I’m pretty sure that list will keep both you and I very busy now and most likely into March.

Would love to know what else you are planning to do on your plots and gardens over the next month, so please comment below and share your plans.