Veg to plant in January and things to do.

[Deleted User]

I cannot help myself and I planted some leekes in pots yesterday and also thyme, parsley and basil and have dug out my propagator and put the lot in there, together with a few aubergines. I haven`t gone mad and have lots of seeds left but the weather beckoned me. I have follow up places ready for all of them for when they germinate. I also found some very dried broad bean seeds so have soaked them all night and they are now on damp kitchen roll under a glass pudding basin. If they come to life then well and good and I`ll get them into root trainers prior to planting out.

Sally_A

Just bumping this.

Chillies are in a heated propogator (8th Jan), first broad beans were in before Christmas, as was garlic.

44 Charlotte spuds are chitting, still need to buy some more.

Noticed from seed packets that a lot of herbs can be sown all year round, I currently have 2 x basil, 1x thyme and 1x parsley on the windowsill. Just bear in mind they will take slightly longer to germinate this time of year, so successional sowings throughout the year work best.

Mid Feb onwards is when it really kicks off, all sown indoors bar the leeks - toms for the greenhouse, aubergines, leeks in deep trays (cat litter trays are ideal), sweet peppers.

I'm itching to get going too.

Soil prep - if not too wet, and beanstick collecting are January tasks.

jedi82

Thank you so much for bumping this! I remember this thread from last year and tried searching yesterday but to no avail - so thank you!

jedi x

floss2

Thanks SallyA - heard today that I've got 2/3 of a lotty so am madly reading everything!

angelavdavis

I am going to try Sarpo this year for the first time as they supposedly have blight resistance. I didn't grow main crop at all last year - sticking to earlies and Charlottes only to avoid blight and was glad I did.

Will be planting chillis in a heated propagator this week and will start a batch of broad beans off with some sweet peas. I have some overwintering broad beans already on the allotment but these will give me a slightly later crop.

Will also be starting off some leeks and potting up some strawberry runners to grow in the greenhouse to get an early crop.

gazza975526570

Are some of you starting your potatoes already?!!

That's very early people. Better to get them out when the soil is warmed up - they soon catch up and better than risking a frsot on them

Primrose

I think if you live in more southern parts of the country you can plant shallots as they're pretty hardy an dproviding there's no frost, I think garlic can also go in although a lot of people plant that in December or even earlier.

Sally_A

gazza975526570 wrote: »

Are some of you starting your potatoes already?!!

That's very early people. Better to get them out when the soil is warmed up - they soon catch up and better than risking a frsot on them

No, they are chitting now, but won't be planted out before St Patricks Day, and then only if the soil is warmish and not too quagmire like. Keeping them cool but light gives them sturdy chits, rather than the leggy things that are kept too warm that you often see for sale at the end of April in superstores.

Here in Somerset, I tend to plant them out between mid March and mid April.

angelavdavis

gazza975526570 wrote: »

Are some of you starting your potatoes already?!!

That's very early people. Better to get them out when the soil is warmed up - they soon catch up and better than risking a frsot on them

No not starting them yet, just buying them in now to ensure I don't miss out. Ours won't go in until probably April as on the South Coast we are usually safe from frost by then.

If possible, I try to cover the bed with black plastic to keep the rain off and warm the soil up. It is also worth doing as you can turn over the plastic and allow the birds to help themselves to the slugs that have gathered on the underside - thus hopefully removing some of them that have been overwintering and preventing them burrowing into your spuds.

angelavdavis

Primrose wrote: »

I think if you live in more southern parts of the country you can plant shallots as they're pretty hardy an dproviding there's no frost, I think garlic can also go in although a lot of people plant that in December or even earlier.

Yes I must admit I do overwinter by shallots, onions and garlic as we manage to do fairly OK. Even last year they were OK under inches of snow!