What to Sow and Grow in January
January in Ireland brings a quieter, more dormant garden, but it is the perfect time to prepare for the growing season ahead. With colder days and brighter daylight hours arriving, now is your chance to plan, tidy, shop for seeds, and even start sowing a few early crops. Do not sow too many things just yet; wait until February arrives.
Catch up on winter chores like clearing the polytunnel and raised beds. It is the perfect time to get ahead on spring planting, especially if you want an early harvest. Some hardy crops like broad beans, peas, and onions can be started now. You can begin early potatoes in big pots in your polytunnel. Some gardeners now start chillies, tomatoes, and aubergines on a heated bench in their polytunnel or a windowsill. We wait until early February, as we usually end up sowing them again. They root and do not thrive well due to dampness and a lack of light.
Here’s our list for January:
Sow spring crops indoors: For an early start, start sowing hardy vegetables like broad beans, early peas, and sweet peas in pots or trays.
Plant onion sets: If not done in December, plant onion sets. We only buy organic sets and grow some onions from organic heritage seeds, which we germinate in Autumn.
Lift remaining root vegetables: We have some carrots, parsnips, celeriac, and Jerusalem artichokes in the soil for the winter, as they taste better when a bit of frost gets at them. We try to remove them all by the end of January before the ground starts to warm up again.
Reflect on last year’s harvests. Consider what worked well and what did not, and use that information to inform your planting plans for the coming year.
Plan crop rotation: Review your crop rotation plans and make any adjustments based on last year’s harvest.
Check your seed supplies: Review your seed collection and order what you need for the year ahead. You can buy chemical-free garden seeds from us here.
Finish clearing garden beds: Tidy up any remaining leaves and debris and prepare beds for planting.
Mulch garden beds: Apply a layer of well-rotted manure or compost to protect the soil and retain moisture. You can also use a thick layer of cardboard, which is great for protecting the soil from all the rain.
Check compost heap: We have a six-bay compost heap in our gardens, where we empty one by turning it into another. If you have not got a compost bin in your garden, now is the time to build one. Read our blog post on how to make one.
Clean and sharpen tools: Now is a great time to ensure all your tools are in good shape for the season ahead. We give them a good wash and then oil them with linseed oil.
Prepare for potatoes: We order organic seed potatoes - we only buy organic heritage potatoes, as many are blight-resistant. We sow some in big pots in the polytunnel for an early harvest.
Tidy up the greenhouse / polytunnel: Clean up any old plants and prepare your growing space for the season ahead.
Look for signs of early spring: Look for early bulbs or perennial growth emerging, and be ready to protect them from frost if necessary.
Prepare your rhubarb patch: We grow four varieties of rhubarb in our garden, and we force the Champagne variety to produce an early crop by covering it with terra cotta pots. We usually split some of the crowns each year and add a good amount of well-rotted manure.
Pruning: Now is the time to examine your fruit trees and see what needs to be pruned. We usually observe the trees a few times and find the best way to prune them by watching YouTube videos. Each tree variety is treated a little differently. For example, you do not prune damson or peach trees when they are dormant.