The shortest day , Christmas and the New Year have all passed. The days are slowly beginning to lengthen although it remains cold and wet.
Hopefully you have cleaned the greenhouse and poly tunnel and all your utensils are sparkling!
Early planting really does need a propagator especially as they provide heat from below.
Aubergines and chillies require a long growing season and are best started off in late January or February. The same goes for tomatoes to be grown on in a greenhouse. I dealt with tomato and chilli varieties last month. For aubergine try Money Maker for large round fruit and Long Purple for a more sausage shaped product. Remember that when potted on they will still need extra heat and maximum light to avoid the plants going leggy.
Chillies and aubergines will be grown on in pots but tomatoes may well go into the greenhouse borders. It’s probably wise to change the soil in the borders every 3 or4 years to avoid the build up of disease and depletion of nutrients . Always incorporate well rotted horse manure and if possible wood ash and soot to ensure the best flavour. The real enthusiast can go and collect seaweed to shred and dig in to provide the very best in flavour. After all tomatoes originate from the costal plains of Peru and Chile. Add lime pellets to correct the pH and prevent blossom end rot and magnesium sulphate to ensure good flowering and healthy foliage.
Keep checking stored garlic, onions, shallots and potatoes. Order your seed potatoes following the recommendations from last month. As soon as they arrive set them out to chit by placing the eye end uppermost. Old egg boxes often work well. Then they need to be in a frost free but light environment. By the end of February they can be started off in potato sacks provided they can be frost free with plenty of light.
It’s always fun to go through the catalogues to see what’s new and on offer. Most gardeners are quite wisely fairly conservative and stick to what they know works but every year try something new either in a crop or variety.
Outside cut down autumn fruiting raspberries to ground level and then I give the ground a good covering of what ever is available such as odd bits of manure and garden compost. This helps keep down weeds , feed the canes and prevent the rain from washing out the nutrients.
Prune apples and pears but leave stone bearing fruit until the spring and attack the fig tree in March.
Collect your schedule from a committee member or The Five Bells and prepare for our spring show in March.
Happy New Year and good Gardening
Peter Estcourt