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January gardening success in the UK
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starts with planning, not with seed
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trays. Welcome to Gardening with Ben.
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And in today's episode, we're going to
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be talking about planning for the year
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ahead and being prepared and ready and
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getting excited for the sewing season
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down here at the aotment and the garden.
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Now, a lot of gardeners get excited
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after Christmas and when January starts
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and they think, "Oh, I'm going to start
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sewing all my seeds." Well, hold on.
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Don't do it. wait until March when it's
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a lot warmer and there's a lot more
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light around to get sewing all those
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seeds because it'll benefit it. You may
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struggle to get stuff to germinate. It
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might grow leggy because it's not
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getting enough sunlight and yeah, things
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will struggle. It's not always best to
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start things off in your house and on
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the window sills. It's sometimes best to
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get the natural light in the greenhouse.
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Just wait a couple of months till March
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and it's perfect time for growing all
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the seeds. And sometimes we get a little
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heat wave in March, which is an ideal
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time for germination. So that's when I
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usually start off all my seeds in March.
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The only ones we've started are the
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chilies, the or jeans, and the peppers,
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which need a longer growing period. So
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they're ideal ones for starting in
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Now, it's great to get all your seeds
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together and work out when you're going
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to be growing them and sewing them and
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make a list of all the plants that
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you're going to grow this year. I've got
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myself a a lotment log book where I
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write down all the notes of when I plant
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it, when I sew it, when I harvest it,
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and where I planted it so that I can
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remember when it's started. And you can
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look back on it the year after and see
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how well it did. And if you're going to
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follow the same things this year down at
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the plot. So yeah, it's great thing to
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try and do. If you've not got a log
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book, have a look around. There's plenty
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online and make notes of what you do.
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And sometimes it's great to look at what
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needs replacing. If you've got any seed
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trays that are broken or damaged, have a
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look at replacing them and getting them
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all ready, cleaned, washed so that
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there's no diseases around and ready for
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the sewing season in March because it'll
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soon be here. We're only a month away
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now and we'll be getting ready for
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sewing all our seeds. So, it's an
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exciting time ahead and it's good to
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plan out your layout of the plot. Like
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my plot layout doesn't change. It's the
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same layout that I've had for years now.
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All we do over winter is dig them all
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over, clear all the weeds, and get them
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all ready for this year.
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And get a piece of paper, draw your
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plot, and write down where you're going
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to grow stuff, and try and not put too
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much in a bed. Because I've done that in
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the past. I've put loads in, and I've
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struggled to get in between to get them
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weeded, get them tided. So sometimes
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less is best when growing stuff and make
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sure you've got enough room to get round
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to keep them weed free because the weeds
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take all the nutrients and the water so
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the plants don't grow as well. So yeah,
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make sure you got plenty of growing
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So it's about preparing and planning and
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without preparation and planning you
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won't get success. So spend a rainy day
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when it's not very nice and get ready
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for this year's growing season because
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it's going to be here soon. Exa it's
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exciting times. I'm looking forward to
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this year. We've got a lot of big plans
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down here at the plot. We're going to be
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growing loads of new stuff and different
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varieties down here at the plot. So make
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sure you drop us a follow to stay up to
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date with what we're growing this year
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down at the plot and when we sew it all
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and plant it all and harvest it all.
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Until next time everyone, remember keep
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smiling, keep shining and keep gardening
