There’s lots of things to do in January in the house, to prepare your plot for when the sowing and growing begins later in Springtime.

1. Start planning your vegetable plot

Now is the time to decide what Vegetables you are going to try and grow this year. Then decide where you are going to put your vegetables in your vegetable plot. Some might need full sun, some might be able to grow in part sun etc, it’s worth checking and writing out a little plan on paper or in a diary.

If you have any vegetables in the ground already, check when the harvest times of these vegetables are so you can plan what to put in the ground next. This way you won’t have any bare earth when you come to harvest your vegetables.

A good read on Crop Rotation and where to put certain vegetables so they grow well is this Garden Focus – Crop Rotation article.

2. Finding the vegetable varieties to grow from seed catalogues on paper and online.

Grab some seed catalogues and your internet and a cup of tea and sift through vegetable varieties to see what you would like to grow this year.

We will be summarising the best varieties to grow for Year 2021 (in our opinion) in the next few weeks to give you a guide on different vegetables to grow.

3. Check your seed trays, seed cells, pots and buy online if you needs any replacements.

Now is the time to check your equipment whilst you have the time. Whilst sales are on or you are at home to receive home deliveries, check what you have in your shed and what you might need for the spring and summer growing periods.

4. Buy your seeds.

It’s best to put your order in for seeds at the beginning of the year before the growing season begins in March/April and the seed companies start getting busier.

With the COVID delays in the postal system and possible demand due to lockdown, it’s best to not delay on purchasing your seeds. Once your have received them, store them in a tin, an old biscuit tin will do, to keep them away from mice in your shed.

5. Adding something different to your growing season this year.

Every year I decide to grow something different and this year I am growing fruit in the form of an apple tree, a plum tree, some summer and autumn raspberry Canes and a blackberry bush. I have already bought bare root plants in November and planted them in the ground.

If you are looking for something unusual to grow, I grew Round Yellow courgettes last year which were very successful, take a look how to grow them here.

6. Buy compost

At the time of writing this, Garden centres are still open to buy compost. If you would like a delivery of compost, we use Wickes Multi Purpose compost in 120L bags, minimum of 5 bags at £9 each for delivery or there’s always click and collect from store.

7. Buy and plant Garlic

There’s still time to buy and plant garlic from January to late March. It’s an easy vegetable to grow and it just needs free draining soil. Don’t worry about the cold temperatures as it needs between 1-10 degrees Celsius for the single bulb to form a new bunch of cloves once planted in the ground.