Good preparation early in the year is vital for growing loads of wonderful fruit, veg and herbs. Spring is in sight! And there are lots of reasons to get back into the food garden in February.
Here’s a list of jobs to be thinking about for the food garden in February:
- Order your seeds and plan crop rotation
- Buy onion sets and asparagus crowns (to plant in the spring)
- Sow seeds undercover
- Prepare seed beds. Get rid of weeds, incorporate lots of organic matter and cover with polythene, cloches or fleece to warm up before spring sowing
- Force rhubarb (cover rhubarb crowns with an upturned bucket, clay pot or layer of straw to force them to grow faster, seeking out light. They will be ready for harvesting in around 7-8 weeks)
- Last chance to prune apple, pear, quince and medlar trees
- Mulch fruit trees and perennial vegetables (such as asparagus and artichokes). Don’t mulch up too high around trunks
- Last chance to prune currants, gooseberries and raspberries. Take currant and berry cuttings to grow new bushes (take your cuttings from new wood on the bush (lighter coloured) about 20 cm long just below a bud and put in the ground 10-15 cm deep)
- Plant new currant and berry bushes (also thin out existing currants and berries and transplant to other spots)
- Mulch (e.g. compost) perennial vegetables (e.g. asparagus, artichokes)
- Chit potatoes (leave seed potatoes for 4-6 weeks to sprout in a cool frost-free place with lots of light to give them a head start when you plant them out in the spring)
- Net brassicas to protect from pigeons
- Remove any yellowing leaves and other plant debris to prevent the spread of diseases
- Clean pots, polytunnels and greenhouses