What to do at the allotment in January

January is always a fresh start. This year feels like we need one more than ever. I feel motivated to grow things when New Year’s Day begins and this is often where the frustration creeps in. It’s a slow progression into the new year and as gardeners, it can feel painfully slow. I’ve learned to fight the urge to sow anything in January. The low level of light and cold temperatures mean sowing anything this month requires heat and artificial light. It requires more of our attention and anything you grow now will always be caught up by later sowings. Personally, I don’t see the benefit of this additional resource. It is much better to do the jobs that will provide a real benefit to you when spring arrives and everything jumps into life and the jobs quickly pile up.

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Allotment Jobs for February

February is a month that both excites and frustrates me as a gardener. Daylight is reaching a crucial number of hours this month, some seeds can be sown but it’s important to remember it’s still winter.

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Allotment Jobs for January

The garden is quiet. In my mind’s eye, January is a dark, wet and bare month. However, I have learned that when you look or when you build a relationship with nature (as we do as gardeners) the reality is there is some colour to be found in the middle of winter and there is always life. Continue reading “Allotment Jobs for January”

Sowing Sweet Peas in January again

This is the second year I’ve grown sweet peas. The first was a disaster.

It all started so well. The peas were sown in October, germinated swiftly and grew with incredible energy.

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Sowing Sweet Peas in January

January can be a tough month for an allotment gardener.

We may have flung open the doors to let the old year out in a raucous chorus of Auld Lang Syne, but the countryside is still bare, the light is low and hazy and the world is still a cold and dark place.

Continue reading “Sowing Sweet Peas in January”