The Winter Allotment

Winter is not a time for resting on your laurels when you have an allotment!

What follows is an extract from the Month-by-Month Allotment Guide provided to all new Ramsgate Town Council allotment tenants:

November / December

• Top tasks – all about clearing and preparing.
• Pruning fruit bushes and trees.
• Winter digging.
• Clear weeds.
• Apply compost or well-rotted manure.
• Mulch base of existing fruit trees and bushes.

January

• Top tasks – Spend time ordering seeds and sketching plans for what you will grow and where on the plot you will grow it.
• Harvest – hardy winter varieties of cabbages, cauliflowers, leeks, celeriac, and root veg such as parsnips, swede, and winter radishes.
• Spread – well rotted manure or compost over empty beds.
• Warm up – areas of seedbeds by covering them with sheets.
• Buy – and start to chit seed potatoes.
• Winter prune – established apple and pear trees.
• Check – fruit cages for damage and make repairs.
• Devise – sowing and planting plans for the year.

Sow or plant in January

• Broad Beans – if the ground is not frozen, sow broad beans. If frozen, sow in pots and keep under cover until spring.
• Fruit trees and bushes – plant new bare root trees and bushes during the winter months when they are dormant.
• Garlic – if soil is neither frozen nor waterlogged, plant in mild areas. Otherwise wait until Feb / Mar.
• Onions and Leeks – sow seeds in modules and keep indoors at a temperature of at least 10C. Transplant outside in March or April.
• Peas – for an early crop, sow seeds in pots under ‘glass’ and harden off to plant outside in March or April.
• Rhubarb – plant new sets or divide and replant old crowns at any time during the winter. Rhubarb will tolerate cold but does not like being waterlogged.

February

• Top tasks – weather can swing from grey days, persistent rain, or sleet to bright, sunny days. Provided the ground is neither frozen or too wet to work, complete winter digging and incorporate as much organic matter as possible.
• Harvest – cabbages, cauliflowers, brussels sprouts, kale, leeks, celeriac, parsnips and swede.
• Sow – seeds indoors to raise seedlings for planting out in spring.
• Plant – shallots and garlic.
• Chit – seed potatoes.
• Dig over – your plot and add plenty of well-rotted organic material.
• Force rhubarb – covering the crowns should stimulate them into producing an early crop.

Sow or plant in February

• Broad beans – sow outside.
• Brussels sprouts, kohl rabi and sprouting broccoli – sow first early varieties under ‘glass’ for planting out in April or May.
• Globe artichokes – sow in pots at a minimum temperature of 18C. Keep indoors until hardened off and plant out in April or May.
• Jerusalem artichokes – plant outside in a single row where they will not overshadow other crops when they reach full height.
• Lettuces – for harvesting in May and June, sow indoors, to be thinned out as seedlings and planted in cold frames in March.
• Spinach - for an early April or May crop, sow a fast-growing variety indoors now for planting out in March.
• Tomatoes and Cucumbers – if you are raising seeds for a greenhouse, sow seeds indoors now. To ensure germination, use a heated propagator and then maintain the temperature at a minimum of 21C.

Written by:
Allotments Officer