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Woburn Sands & District Allotment Society Limited
Affiliated to the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners

Sowing and Planting

Keep on sowing Garlic Thermidrome is recommended for autumn/early winter plantings and Printanor is suited to late winter planting. Printanor can also be planted in early spring, but will give much better yields if it goes through a cold period over winter.

Sowing indoors

 If you have suitable space, make some early sowings in trays. Try lettuce, summer cabbage and cauliflowers, plus round varieties of carrots, spinach, salad onions and turnips. Germination temperatures of around 13 °C are adequate so a windowsill is fine to get these seeds going. Seedlings will need to be pricked out in trays and potted on before putting out under cloches or in cold frames in February.

Greenhouse tomatoes

 Tomatoes can be sown, for growing on in a heated greenhouse, as early as January. Tomato cultivars are available specifically for growing under cover, for example, Shirley F1 (medium size) and F1 Aromata (large).

 Heated propagator - If you are wondering what to buy a keen gardener for Christmas, or need ideas for spending your Christmas money, then a heated propagator could be just the answer. A little ‘bottom’ heat is just what is needed to give seeds a start, and help avoid damping off and other seedling diseases.

Pest and disease watch

There are not many pests around in the garden at this time of year. Winter soil cultivation will help to expose soil dwelling pests to frost and predators.

 Do not add any plant material infected with soil borne diseases to your compost heap when doing the final clean up. This will put a stop to the spread of disease through your compost the following year.

 Keep an eye on vegetables in store. Regularly inspect and remove any diseased or damaged individuals before problems can spread. Use mouse controls if the little devils are a problem.

Whitefly on brassica underleaf

 Keep an eye out for whitefly and aphids on

Brussels sprouts and other winter brassicas.

 Ensure brassicas and any other vulnerable crops are protected from pigeons by using fleece. Build a frame over the crop and line it with fleece to keep them off.

Things to do in the vegetable garden

Start collecting plastic bottles for cloches in the spring

 Get organised for the spring and start collecting plastic bottles for cloches. The sawn-off plastic bottles will protect individual young plants from slug damage. Be sure not to trap a slug inside.

 If you don’t already have one or need more, build a new compost bin. Site it on bare earth or grass and make sure it is accessible for adding, removing and turning the material. Avoid using tanalised or pressure treated wood if building a bin from scratch.

 Sheds and fences may need repairing and painting to protect them over the coming winter months. Always choose a safe preservative.

 Watch out for chickweed which can soon overwhelm winter salads and other plants, particularly on rich soils. As it can grow, flower and ripen seed all year round it is not a weed to be ignored. Hoe off seedlings, but pull up anything larger as the plants can root again in wet weather.

 Time to give those hard-working tools some care and attention. Scrub spades, forks and hoes with hot water, then dry thoroughly and wipe over with an oiled cloth to prevent rusting. Blades can be sharpened, but don’t overdo it!

 Insulate worm bins for the winter to keep worms active and producing compost.

Start a compost trench

 Start a compost trench - Bury kitchen waste at about a spade’s depth, preferably where the runner beans will grow next year. Cover the waste with soil, as soon as you add it, to prevent foxes or other animals from scavenging.

Pruning Trees

Prune apples, pears, and bush and cane fruits. Continue pruning except in hard freezing conditions. Deal with the young trees first, and then the older ones. Inspect apples and pears for canker and prune or pare out lesions on larger branches and trunks. Collect up healthy prunings and shred them before composting. Alternatively, pile them up in

an out-of-the-way corner of the garden and leave the pile to rot for a few years, where it will make a great habitat for all sorts of creatures.

Sowing and planting out doors

When soil and growing conditions are right, sow early vegetables outdoors. If the grass has started to grow, that's a good sign that the soil is around 5-6 degrees centigrade - warm enough to allow the hardiest seeds to germinate and grow. If you have a heavy clay soil that is slow to warm, wait a few weeks. Seeds sown in too cold or wet a soil are liable to rot and unlikely to thrive.
Sow outdoors

·	Broad beans

·	Early carrots

Parsnips

·	Maincrop peas

Radish

·	Spinach beet

Turnip

Plant outdoors

Asparagus

·	Onion sets

Potatoes

Shallots

·	Jerusalem Artichokes

Quick guide to growing potatoes

Potatoes chitting

Store the seed tubers in a light, cool (10°C), frost free spot and leave them to sprout. This is known as chitting. Egg boxes make good chitting trays. Make sure you put the tubers with the ‘eye’ end (where the sprouts will grow from) upwards.
Dig in well-rotted manure or garden compost (apply no more than one wheelbarrow-full of well-rotted strawy manure, or two of compost, per 10 sq metres of ground). Plant tubers into trenches or in individual holes, 7-15cm in depth, cover with soil.

See spacings below:

·	1st early – 28-36cm apart, 38-50cm between rows.

·	2nd early & maincrop – 36-45cm apart, 65-75cm between rows.

Potato planting can start from mid March in milder areas, where frost is rare. If the soil is slow to warm, wait until April or May, or protect early plantings with fleece or cloches.

Raising seeds outdoors for transplanting

An outdoor seedbed can be used to germinate seeds in, before moving them to their permanent growing

position and is a good idea for crops that don't mind root disturbance, especially winter brassicas and leeks.
To make a seed bed:

Choose an area - a corner of your vegetable plot for example

·	Remove weeds and rake soil to a fine ‘tilth'. Disturbing the soil stimulates weed seeds near the surface to germinate.

·	Leave the prepared seed bed for 2-3 weeks, then hoe off the emerging weeds

·	Sow immediately into the prepared, weed free bed. This is often called the ‘stale seed bed' technique.

Brassicas - sow at 4-5 cm x 20 cm (2in x 8in)

Leeks - sow at 2.5 x 15cm (1in x 6in)

Direct sowing under cover

Hardy crops that are usually grown outdoors can be sown under cloches or in the soil beds of a greenhouse or polytunnel. They will romp ahead and give welcome fresh produce at a lean time of year.

Sow under cover

·	Lettuce - loose-leaf or seedling varieties are best

Kohl Rabi

Radish

Rocket

·	Baby beetroot - use an early variety, resistant to bolting

Spinach

·	Salad onions

·	Peas - mangetout or sugar snap are best

·	Potatoes - compact early varieties

·	Globe artichokes

Sowing in trays and modules to transplant outside

Raising plants to transplant outdoors (or under cloches or in a greenhouse/ tunnel) gives you a head start on the season. It is simple to provide extra warmth for a few pots and trays of seeds - in a warm room, or on a heated bench for example. But remember - the seedlings that appear will also need some warmth and good light levels.

Sow in trays and modules

·	Baby beetroot

·	Brussels sprouts - for early crops

Kohlrabi

·	Early cabbage

·	Summer cabbage

·	Early cauliflower

·	Bulb onions

·	Spring onions

·	Tomatoes - for growing in a cold greenhouse or tunnel

Lettuce