Temperatures are consistently low and frost is before us when we awake. The excitement of Spring is kicking in though; snowdrops are peaking through the soil and there is plenty we can be doing in our gardens and allotments to prepare for the gardening year ahead.
I don’t call them jobs like they are so often as they shouldn’t be seen that way, they are activities that bring great joy and enable Summer success.
Here is some of the things I will be doing and you can do too;
- Clean the greenhouse and pots ready for Spring sowing
- Spread organic mulch over the beds, which will slowly break down over the next few months and improve nutrient content of the soil
- Sow chillies in a heated propagator or on a sunny windowsill
- Sow broad beans outside under a cloche
- Sow sweet peas indoors in a un-heated propagator
- Prune autumn raspberry canes
- Plant up remaining bulbs in containers
- Force rhubarb – using a decorative forcer to encourage the plants to make early growth (established plants only)
- Take root cuttings and plant in the edge of a pot filled with a gritty compost mix
- Start saving egg trays and thinking about chitting early and second early potatoes at the end of the month. 2016 chitting blog here.
- Stay cosy indoors reading books, making plans and browsing through seed catalogues
- Redeem the exclusive offer I sent to all my Christmas Giveaway entrants
- If you missed my monthly radio show on Tuesday, you can catch up on my allotment chat, New Year plans and the arrival of a very important seed here.
If you would like me to provide tips or make how-to posts on any of the activities above just let me know.
