What to do in February – 2

This time last year I wrote a post to remind me on what needed to be done on the allotment or garden this month.  This is a guide to help me organize what needs to be done.  More of a one stop shop for jobs to do this month.  Of course, a lot of the jobs require suitable weather conditions and the weather that we are having at the moment seem to be testing all of our patience.

What’s the betting that by the end of May, early June the UK government bring in a hosepipe ban!!

Jobs to do………in February

• Continue to plan what you intend to grow this year and order seeds before your favourites become unavailable
• Harden off autumn sown cauliflowers and cabbages
• Sow salad crops in succession under cloche protection
• Check your soil’s PH level to test for alkalinity and acidity and add lime if necessary
• Mulch around raspberry canes to encourage strong shoots and prune Autumn varieties to about 6″ above ground level
• Turn the compost heap to aid decomposition
• Slugs can still be a nuisance this time of year.  Check your brassica leaves for signs of them.
• Remove the dead leaves from brassicas leaves such as cabbages and sprouts to help prevent mould and downy mildew
• Check your vegetables in storage
• Chit your potatoes in a frost free place to encourage strong shoots
• Warm areas of your soil with clear polythene, carpet, cardboard or black plastic
• Garlic can still be planted this month as long as the soil isn’t too waterlogged
• Check that shallots in the ground are still firmly in place and not been pulled up by the birds.
• Continue digging over the plot adding plenty of well rotted organic material.
• Start to save the cardboard tubes from toilet and kitchen rolls and newspapers to make your own biodegradable pots for seed sowing next month
• Collect plastic meat and mushroom containers and yoghurt pots to use as seed trays
• Make sure pots and seed trays are cleaned ready for sowing
• Start to save empty plastic veg and meat trays to use for sowing seeds
• Collect egg trays for chitting potatoes
• Lift and store the remaining winter parsnips
• Plant and divide chive plants
• Secure netting on remaining brassica plants
• Cover late crop vegetables that are not winter hardy such as salads and oriental leaves
• Continue to hoe all weeds where possible
• Plant out cabbage transplants that have been hardened off under cloches or fleece. Close planting will allow some to be used a spring greens giving the remaining plants a chance to grow and develop further.
• Don’t forget to feed the birds

What to sow………Indoors (Heated)

• Aubergines
• Broad Beans
• Leeks
• Lettuce
• Peas
• Radish
• Chillies
• Parsley
• Melons (Late Feb)
• Celery (Late Feb)
• Onions and shallot seeds
• Kohl Rabi
• Kale
• Tomatoes (only greenhouse destined varieties this early)(Late Feb)
• Cucumbers (Late Feb)

What to sow………Indoors (Unheated)

• Brussels Sprouts
• Winter salads
• Summer Cabbages
• Summer Cauliflowers
• Calabrese
• Early variety peas
• Parsley (curly leafed)
• French beans for a successional crop (Late Feb)
• Chillies, peppers and aubergines in heat for an early start
• Leeks (min temp 13c)
• Spinach
• Radish

What to sow………Outdoors

• Garlic
• Autumn onion sets and shallots
• Broad beans
• Early Peas (In a sheltered area)
• Parsnips
• Turnips
• Autumn sown onions

What to plant………in February

• Winter salad crops – protected by some sort of cloche
• Plant rhubarb sets
• Fruit bushes
• Jerusalem artichokes
• Bare root container-grown trees

Crops in season now

• Broccoli (Sprouting)
• Brussels sprouts (tops)
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Celery
• Chicory
• Endive
• Jerusalem Artichokes
• Kale
• Kohl Rabi
• Leeks
• Lettuce
• Parsnips
• Spinach
• Swede
• Turnips
• Winter Radish

Happy diggin’

Debb