December
Plan what you’re going to grow next year and where, keep in mind crop rotation.
Place your seed orders.
Why not try one new vegetable or fruit to grow next year?
Tidy and rough dig plot incorporating well rotted manure/compost for next year if ground not too wet. Frost will break the soil for you. Just hit it with a fork in the spring at the time the soil dries out to form a fine tilth
Do not manure ground where carrots and parsnips are to grow next year, unless you are following nodig cultivation.
Plant garlic, if your soil tends to be waterlogged then make a hole with a broomstick fill with sharp sand add the clove; top the hole with an inch of compost.
Sow onions in seed boxes/modules in a greenhouse at the end of the month
Removing any yellowing leaves from your winter brassicas. Keep them netted!
Turn the compost heap over to introduce air.
· Ensure compost bins are covered to prevent rain leaching the nutrients and to keep some of the heat of decomposition in.
· Take care not to harm hedgehogs or bumble bees when turning compost heap
Make leafmould from leaves, its free and improves soil structure. It helps water retention.
Take hardwood cuttings of soft fruit. Gooseberries, red, white and black currants, worcesterberries, jostaberries
Split rhubarb if plants are old and becoming less productive.
Plant bare rooted fruit trees and bushes.
Prune apple and pear trees.
Cut down canes of autumn-fruiting raspberries.
Lift carrots to prevent pest damage. Store in damp sand or peat in a shed.
Check stored potatoes
Plant Of The Month
Rhubarb
Position:Open sunny site with moist, but free-draining soil as it hates being waterlogged in winter.Avoid frost pockets young stems susceptible to frost.
Cropping:
Spring till June, forced spears crop about 3 weeks earlier.
RHS recommended varieties: (from RHS webpage)
Hawkes Champagne:Compact plants with high yield potential. It has attractive, bright red, medium length, uniform stems.
Timperley Early:Thick stems, early, high yield. Bred for forcing; performs very well outside, but even better colour when forced.
Victoria:Late type with heavy yields.
How to grow:
In spring add a mulch of manure. Do not cover crowns or they will rot.
In march add 100gms per square metre of general fertiliser
Water well in dry spells to keep plant growing.
Liquid feed during the summer
Remove any flower spikes
End of July add 4 oz per square yard (120 gms per square metre) of general fertiliser
Remove dead leaves and stalks when it dies back in the autumn.
You can force the rhubarb in spring (mature plants) however this will exhaust the plant taking several years to recover.
Forcing Rhubarb:
Very early crop:
In November dig up 1 or 2 plants and turn them over
Expose roots to frost to produce a false winter
Turn plant up right way and plant in boxes, exclude light from plants
Second early crop: Force plant in the ground by covering crown with bucket to exclude light.
Harvesting
First year after planting do not pick stems, allow plant to put all its energy into growth
Second year harvest only a few stems
Subsequent years harvest up to third or half of stems
Stop picking stems in June to allow plant to recover for next year.
Pull stems, do not cut them off.
Pests:
Slugs
Eelworm
Swift moth caterpillars
Diseases:
Crown Rot
Honey fungus
Leaf spot
Propagation:
Can be grown from seed but usually from crowns.
Dig up plants which are at least 3-4 years old between the autumn and spring when dormant and ground not frozen.
Split the roots with a spade the roots leaving at least one growing point on each crown
Use the younger crowns for new plants as they are more vigorous.
Container bought plants can be planted all the year round.
Prepare the ground for new plants by:
Dig a hole 2 feet square (61cm x 61 cm)
Dig into the bottom of the hole a bucket of well rotted manure
Mix another bucket of well rotted manure to the soil from the topsoil
Plant crowns with crown above the surface
Space plants 75-90cm (30-36in) apart, with 30cm (12in) between rows.
Plan what you’re going to grow next year and where, keep in mind crop rotation.
Place your seed orders.
Why not try one new vegetable or fruit to grow next year?
Tidy and rough dig plot incorporating well rotted manure/compost for next year if ground not too wet. Frost will break the soil for you. Just hit it with a fork in the spring at the time the soil dries out to form a fine tilth
Do not manure ground where carrots and parsnips are to grow next year, unless you are following nodig cultivation.
Plant garlic, if your soil tends to be waterlogged then make a hole with a broomstick fill with sharp sand add the clove; top the hole with an inch of compost.
Sow onions in seed boxes/modules in a greenhouse at the end of the month
Removing any yellowing leaves from your winter brassicas. Keep them netted!
Turn the compost heap over to introduce air.
· Ensure compost bins are covered to prevent rain leaching the nutrients and to keep some of the heat of decomposition in.
· Take care not to harm hedgehogs or bumble bees when turning compost heap
Make leafmould from leaves, its free and improves soil structure. It helps water retention.
Take hardwood cuttings of soft fruit. Gooseberries, red, white and black currants, worcesterberries, jostaberries
Split rhubarb if plants are old and becoming less productive.
Plant bare rooted fruit trees and bushes.
Prune apple and pear trees.
Cut down canes of autumn-fruiting raspberries.
Lift carrots to prevent pest damage. Store in damp sand or peat in a shed.
Check stored potatoes
Plant Of The Month
Rhubarb
Position:Open sunny site with moist, but free-draining soil as it hates being waterlogged in winter.Avoid frost pockets young stems susceptible to frost.
Cropping:
Spring till June, forced spears crop about 3 weeks earlier.
RHS recommended varieties: (from RHS webpage)
Hawkes Champagne:Compact plants with high yield potential. It has attractive, bright red, medium length, uniform stems.
Timperley Early:Thick stems, early, high yield. Bred for forcing; performs very well outside, but even better colour when forced.
Victoria:Late type with heavy yields.
How to grow:
In spring add a mulch of manure. Do not cover crowns or they will rot.
In march add 100gms per square metre of general fertiliser
Water well in dry spells to keep plant growing.
Liquid feed during the summer
Remove any flower spikes
End of July add 4 oz per square yard (120 gms per square metre) of general fertiliser
Remove dead leaves and stalks when it dies back in the autumn.
You can force the rhubarb in spring (mature plants) however this will exhaust the plant taking several years to recover.
Forcing Rhubarb:
Very early crop:
In November dig up 1 or 2 plants and turn them over
Expose roots to frost to produce a false winter
Turn plant up right way and plant in boxes, exclude light from plants
Second early crop: Force plant in the ground by covering crown with bucket to exclude light.
Harvesting
First year after planting do not pick stems, allow plant to put all its energy into growth
Second year harvest only a few stems
Subsequent years harvest up to third or half of stems
Stop picking stems in June to allow plant to recover for next year.
Pull stems, do not cut them off.
Pests:
Slugs
Eelworm
Swift moth caterpillars
Diseases:
Crown Rot
Honey fungus
Leaf spot
Propagation:
Can be grown from seed but usually from crowns.
Dig up plants which are at least 3-4 years old between the autumn and spring when dormant and ground not frozen.
Split the roots with a spade the roots leaving at least one growing point on each crown
Use the younger crowns for new plants as they are more vigorous.
Container bought plants can be planted all the year round.
Prepare the ground for new plants by:
Dig a hole 2 feet square (61cm x 61 cm)
Dig into the bottom of the hole a bucket of well rotted manure
Mix another bucket of well rotted manure to the soil from the topsoil
Plant crowns with crown above the surface
Space plants 75-90cm (30-36in) apart, with 30cm (12in) between rows.