New Beginnings

Hello January! It is onwards and upwards from here and there is so much to look forward to.
I love the first month with all the hope it brings, I see new growth everywhere, tiny sprouting bulbs under trees in the woods, all that’s been going on under out feet is now starting to emerge, my garden has little bulbs popping up everywhere, the snowdrops will emerge first, the longer daylight hours stirring the plants from their slumber.

There has thankfully been some really good weather in Sussex, by good, I mean cold, crisp and dry, a gardeners dream. Its been frost so everything has been looking so pretty.

Despite the frosty nights, the garden has been excelling itself in green leaf production, I have still got lettuce ( Mizuna, Endive ) standing both inside the greenhouse and outside, there’s Rocket and Spinach inside, and together with Brussels sprouts ( Evesham Special ), Kale ( Nero di Toscana ) and Parsnips ( Imperial Crown ) I have been harvesting all year round.
The best lettuce for me this year had been ‘Lobjolts’ a cos lettuce, it’s happy enough through winter under cover and has been on the go since last year, its great one for sowing little and often so you always have some to hand. For winter sowing I think the best grower has been the Endive ( pic1. on left below) and Chicory. These have been a huge success and def. on my grow list for this year. I keep them to sow in the later months as they withstand cold well so sow nearer September/October for this one. The gorgeous red one in the pic is Chicory ‘Pallo di Rossa’ , a touch bitter but I like it like that.

The garlic sown last year is coming along, seems to be a mixed bag of growth really so I am interested in how it pans out. I’ve got some in pots, some in the beds and some in a planter. They’re looking good with some good growth on them and I know that under that hard frosty top its all going on underneath, ready to go once it gets warmer in a couple of months.

Sowing will be starting soon and if you’re like me you’ll be desperate to get going. A fair warning though , don’t be pushed into starting too early by the pressures of social media and the like. If you have managed to hold off then well done! There’s a lot of ‘social media’ pressure at the moment, there are so many people showing that they’re sowing now, making us all feel like we are missing something but I can assure you that you are not missing anything at all. Of course give a seed moisture and warmth and it will germinate but the light levels and daylight hours are too low to enable the seedling to grow properly once germination has occurred. The seeding will grow fast and try to reach light so will grow long and leggy resulting in a weaker plant. Far far better to wait until mid February to start sowing. For those that do want to sow now then investing in some grow lights would be the answer, I don’t know anything on them at all as I don’t use them but there’s plenty of info on the web.

As I touched on last time, there are many ways to sow seed. Sowing into modules/seed trays ( If you’re not sure what these are i have put a video on Youtube) or sowing direct into a prepared bed. Importantly, you need to do what works for you. I only sow carrots and parsnips direct but everything else, including flowers get sown into modules/trays first, raised on heat, like a heat mat to germinate and then grown on under cover ( in my case a greenhouse, but windowsill is fine, anywhere with good light ).

The method of sowing I use depends on seed type. You can sow individually into cells or to save space I often fill a seed tray or pot with compost and sow a small batch/scattering of seed which, once germinated and large enough to handle, can then be ‘pricked out’ individually into cells to grow on. (see YouTube for my video on pricking out)

I also multi sow a lot of my seeds and I’ll talk more about this in detail next time. When I sow my seeds (obv depending on what type), the aim for me is to time the sowing so that once the seedling has germinated it will grow on in its cell/module until its large enough to be planted out. This will usually be 4-6 weeks from germinating. Again depending on the type of seed I will then cover the seedling with fleece once its planted out in the ground to help protect it (from wind and frost mainly) until the weather warms up. Of course if you are sowing early in January you may need to pot the seedlings on into a larger pot to grow on until they’re ready to plant out, it may be just too cold to plant the seedlings out straight away, thereby using more compost and more time so I try as much as possible to avoid potting on before planting out. Later in the year potting on becomes a bit of a necessity as things will need to wait until there’s room in your bed etc etc.

If you are sowing direct then there’s no need to panic, seeds germinate readily in warm soil so use the colder first few months to prepare your ground, mulch with organic matter if you haven’t done already and the organisms in the soil will break down the matter. By the time you are ready to sow ( from March, April, especially if you can cover with some fleece or to be sure of warmth, after frosts May ) just rake over the top layer to a fine tilth before sowing. Whichever method you choose make sure seeds once sown don’t dry out and ensure they have good access to lights.

Next month I will be discussing multi sowing v single seed sowing and why I use this method a lot in my garden. If there is anything you would like to know in particular, if there’s a topic you’d like me to discuss, or if you have any questions please email me or contact me using the tab above or via my Instagram or Facebook pages.