A new year has arrived. Although the garden slumbers in the winter, there are signs of life everywhere. Spring bulbs are growing, even though I feel it is too early for them. In November, garlic and onions were planted in two raised beds, and they are growing well so far through this winter.
However, I always find there is something to do in the garden. Getting on top of the clearing up – a winter clean, if you will – helps come spring and take the pressure off later in the season. Deadheading the sedums and any other plants that need to come out, such as last year’s marigolds – who, due to the warm autumn, were flowering well into November before they succumbed to frost. And with the aforementioned warm autumn, keeping on top of the weeds has been an important job this winter.
Pruning the fig and apple trees is well underway. The apple tree had become very overgrown. I gave it a prune for the first time last year and reduced its height, taking the few branches that were growing straight up in the air and some further branches that allowed me to open the canopy. Mindful that not too much came off this time round, I still need to get in there and carefully select some overlapping branches, as only the top layer of branches produces leaves and later apples. So, I spent the last year observing the tree and determining which branches must come off this winter. I shall update this later in the month once I get onto it.
Below is a link to my plan for the vegetable patch so far. I have included some notes about this year’s projects in this area.
https://www.growveg.co.uk/garden-plans/1837766
Sowing
It always feels early to sow in January, but back in July, I bought a subscription to Kitchen Garden Magazine (not an ad). Every month, the magazine gives away several seed packets. Though I have noticed that they tend to repeat the same seeds over the last few months, they occasionally offer some interesting varieties. This month, the magazine included a variety of chilli peppers called Bishops Crown, which has an interesting shape.
Though a mild variety, stuffing these with ricotta or cream cheese would be interesting. This month, they also included seeds for aubergine “Long Purple.” For Christmas, my sister gifted me a seed collection with a bundle of seeds from salads, peas, herbs, tomatoes, and chilli.
As some plants love the sun, I know it can be a good idea to sow them this month. So, yesterday afternoon, I spent time sowing aubergine, chillies (including some “Cayenne”), sweet peppers, and tomatoes. Getting them going now and starting them indoors will help them later and allow them to produce their fruits sooner in the growing season. These are now in the propagator on the windowsill.