The allotment in January
Welcome to the new growing year on the allotment! There is a whole growing season around the corner but it’s still the depth of winter. The days are short and we can expect snow and frost as well as wind and rain this month. January is often the coldest month of the year. There’s not much sowing or planting to be done on the allotment in January but try to take advantage of any of those beautiful bright days we are sometimes blessed with to do some general maintenance jobs like cleaning the greenhouse and tidying the shed.
Stay off the soil as much as you can, particularly if it’s very wet, but working from your paths or a plank there are a few jobs you can do.
Clear away any weather-damaged and rotting vegetation so that it doesn’t harbour disease and pests. Keep on top of weeds too.
If you haven’t already done so you could mulch your beds with some well-rotted manure or homemade compost. Most beds will benefit from this but areas where your carrots and parsnips are to be grown should be avoided as they don’t like freshly manured soil.
Mulch beds in autumn and winter
Use well rotted manure or home made compost to mulch empty beds through autumn and winter.
Make a plan of what you want to grow and where you intend to grow it. Take stock of your supply of seeds and order any that you need.
Remember to regularly check any stored crops you have for damage, disease or decay. One bad apple (or potato or onion) will literally spoil the whole barrel quite quickly.
Sowing seeds in January
Although some seed packets might make us think otherwise it’s too early for sowing most seeds. Whilst it’s relatively easy to get seeds to germinate indoors the main problem is the lack of light which causes plants to grow weak and leggy, so anything that is sown will need to be given as much light as possible. Some seeds need a long growing season so are best started early in the year. Here are a few examples:
Sow onion seeds in a propagator.
Aubergine can be be started in a propagator too as they need a long growing season.
Hardy broad beans like Aquadulce Claudia can be started in the greenhouse. These will follow on from any sown in the autumn. Early peas can be sown under cover too.
Harvest in January
Parsnip, swede and celeriac will be available from the root crop bed.
Harvest parsnips
Parsnips can be harvested from late autumn through to February. They are at their best after a frost or two and will stand happily in the ground until February.
Brassica like curly kale, cavolo nero, Brussels sprouts and savoy cabbage will be ready to harvest from the allotment in January.
Leeks will also be available.
