By John Harrison, Author of: Vegetable Growing Month by Month
One question new growers often ask is ‘what can I do now?’ To try and answer that I wrote Vegetable Growing Month by Month, which amazed me by becoming one of the most popular gardening books in Britain.
The book covers everything the new vegetable grower needs to know and assumes no knowledge whatsoever.
It’s now become a textbook on some horticultural courses, but it’s not written like the textbooks I had at school. I hope it’s an easy read.
I’m not formally trained in horticulture, I just have 30 years experience of growing and making mistakes behind me although my Grandfather did get me off to a good start.
The Monthly Guide Articles below are extracted and condensed from the book which covers what to do each month in more detail as well as basic techniques, how to grow individual vegetables, pests and problems etc. It touches on container growing as well, which I covered in more detail in Vegetable, Fruit and Herb Growing in Small Spaces.
January usually brings hard frosts but with a bit of luck you will have the opportunity to catch up with those winter jobs you are behind on. It may well be your last chance before really cold weather sets in and the ground is frozen solid, so don't procrastinate....
February is often the coldest winter month although spring is just around the corner. More than any other month, what to do in February will depend on weather. It's a month where you can be frozen solid under snow at the start but almost pleasant by the...
March is the month where things really heat up for the gardener and the garden, the true start of the growing season. The day's length is such that the plants want to get going but the ground must be right for success. Don't panic if the weather is bad...
April is great, the soil is warming up and spring should definitely be here. Do keep an eye on the weather forecast though, even in the south of England a cold snap and snow are not unknown in April and the occasional frost is to be expected. Keeping...
May is one of the busiest months in the kitchen garden and allotment plots. The soil is warm and everything should be growing well. Unfortunately the weeds are growing well too so there is no time to relax.
Beware Late Frosts!
Do watch out for...
Flaming June should bring us a hot sunshine filled month with the risk of frost passed and those in more northerly parts should be able to catch up with those in the south.
Weeding & Thinning the Crops
As with May, we really need to keep on...
Although the hectic sowing of the first part of the year is past, there are still things to sow, plant out and happily harvest. Those early potatoes should be coming out of the ground now and although they do not store as long as the maincrop varieties...
August with a little luck brings us the best of the summer weather but being the traditional holiday month it can be hard to keep on top of the vegetable plot with a fortnight away even if a neighbour can be persuaded to water as required.
Harvest...
September is the end of summer and although we're often lucky to have an Indian summer with blue skies and sunshine, nothing is certain with the weather. Whatever the weather brings, September is the month where the season begins to wind down. The bulk...
By now the weather is cooling fast and the first frosts will probably hit this month so we move from the growing season of one year to the preparation for the next season.
The late maincrop potatoes will be coming out of the ground now to store...
By now the nights are drawing in so trying to fit in the gardening work becomes more difficult but the good news is that there is not quite so much to do at this time of year.
Planting Out Garlic
The garlic should go in now to get away early in...
The dark days of December are both the end of one year and the start of the new. As the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, passes the days again to begin to grow longer. It is time to finish one set of tasks and prepare for the next.
Although...
