Jobs in the Garden and the Vegetable Patch during January

Happy New Year!

I will start this post with a look back and the feeling of satisfaction I felt when able to serve Christmas Dinner at mine last month with Carrots, Parsnips and Leeks all fresh from the vegetable patch. It is lovely to be able to simply wander down the garden to do the veg 'shop' and children and grown-ups alike all enjoy pulling a few veg out the ground for their lunch. The Eskimo Carrots have lived up to their name and hype and are beautiful despite being under several inches of snow a couple of weeks back and as you would expect the Parsnip Gladiator and the Leeks didn't mind the snow and cold at all. 

There is little time to rest on the laurels mind you and as the New Year dawns, it is a great time to give the Greenhouse a thorough clean and wash down and on a mild day with a little winter sun shining down it can become quite an enjoyable hour or two spent. A bucket of soapy water, sponge and a soft broom for those harder to reach places is pretty much all you need and away you go.  Whilst you have the soapy water to hand don’t forget to wash any pots you have and are planning to re-use so they are clean and pest and disease free for the coming growing season; it’s also a chance to check for slugs and snails hiding in pots and under seed trays and deal with as you choose.  

If you haven’t already January is the time to order seeds for the coming growing season. I have already ordered most of the vegetable seeds for 2023, as mentioned in a previous post, and will spend an evening in the coming weeks planning where to sow what on the veg patch come spring. The runners I took from my Strawberry plants in late summer are growing nicely in their pots and are currently residing in the greenhouse waiting to be planted out in early spring. I am thinking of growing them in three large urn type stone planters I own this year, freeing up the space in what was the Strawberry beds for other things; at the moment the plan is for the Leeks to be sown in the newly vacated beds.

The recent snow did take its toll on some plants in my garden and the Slavia Hot Lips were by far the worst hit, the heavy snowfall almost flattening them in their pots. They appear to have survived and would be due a good cut back in spring anyway. There were just enough stems that survived for me to take some cuttings as a fall-back if required and fingers crossed I will be able to get at least three new plants to replace those that have been damaged if needed. The Cordyline plant I have in a large pot at the end of the garden along with an Olive Tree and the Phoenix Canariensis Palm in similar larger pots is now showing signs of damage, a number of the leaves at the top appear dead. I have seen a few posts on Social Media showing similar damage done by the snow and cold across the UK. It caught me out I have to admit, I assumed it was hardier than that, the Olive and the Palm are fine! I have removed the damaged leaves and moved the plant to the Greenhouse for now to see out the worst of the rest of winter; hopefully it will recover. 

  

The weather is beginning to warm-up, a little, and the garden is slowly waking from its winter slumber with bulbs popping their heads above ground I even have a couple if Primrose already in flower in a shadier corner of the garden.  

I have spent a few evenings recently in the potting shed having a tidy, cleaning and oiling tools, and taking stock of what I have, and haven’t got, for the months ahead.  A trip out to stock up on various fertilisers, liquid feeds and general bits and bobs such as bamboo canes and twine is required. I could take a trip to one of the many the big chain Garden Centres, and they certainly have their uses, but there are many Gardening Clubs, Associations and Guilds across this green and pleasant land of ours and, if you haven’t already, I can’t encourage you enough to find your local organisation and join up. I am a member of the Elm Park Horticultural Guild which is my local organisation who run a number of day-trips and shows through the year, which I am reliably informed are very popular; I might enter one of the shows later this year if they have a class for weirdest looking vegetable or such like. The big benefit to me though in being a member is that they have Trading Huts open each weekend from February through to November and the huts are a veritable Aladdin's Cave off all things the gardener needs at very reasonable prices just a few minutes stroll down the road. This annual Membership for 2023 was the princely sum of £3.00, a bargain as far as I am concerned.

Cheers 🍺