Page 30 - Simply Vegetables Winter 2024/25

Dahlia tubers boxed up
February
Very often this is the coldest month of the year and the ground may sometimes be frozen but when the ground is workable make every effort to get the beds ready for planting as I described last month. There is still time to fork in manure and also to make trenches for runner beans but do it as soon as you can to give the soil time to settle before planting.
Fruit trees and bushes and also rhubarb can still be planted if the ground is workable, as I described last month. Congested clumps of rhubarb can also be dug up and split before re-planting. As rhubarb is a permanent crop, prepare the ground well by forking in some manure or compost.
Shallots and garlic can still be planted if not done before. Please refer to last month’s notes about planting these. The traditional time for planting shallots is December. If you did plant them then in three and a
half inch pots (9cm.) as I do, they should
be growing well by now and be ready for potting up into 5-inch (12.5 cm.) pots.
So much for planting but what seeds can be sown? If you have a heated greenhouse with a propagator, onions and leeks can be
sown as I described last month. Tomatoes, peppers and aubergines can be sown
the same way. It is also the time to sow cucumbers. These seeds are larger, so they are best sown in individual small pots. You can also sow celery. These seeds are much smaller than the others I have mentioned. They need to be sown very thinly on a tray
Chrysanth stools on warming bench
of fine, levelled compost. I mentioned broad beans last month and I still think they are best sown in individual pots but they don’t need to be put in a propagator
Lettuce and beetroot can also be sown now in trays, but I prefer to sow them in cell trays, three or four seeds in each and thinned to one when they germinate.
30 Simply Vegetables