In a new series, House & Garden UK garden editor Clare Foster lays out a month by month guide to getting a kitchen garden off the ground. In this first instalment, follow her as she prepares the soil and contemplates the seeds to sow
It is still too cold outside to be able to get much done in the vegetable garden, but you can start preparing your beds by adding manure or compost to the soil. Whatever you bring in to enrich your soil, be aware that some sources of organic matter can be contaminated by herbicides or veterinary antibiotics. Traces of aminopyralid and other weed killers can frequently be found in farmyard manure, which can have an adverse effect on vegetable crops the following year. If you cannot be sure that the manure is chemical free, choose an alternative such as spent mushroom compost (from a reputable organic source), rotted bark, leaf mould or your own garden compost. I have started following Charles Dowding’s no-dig method, so I simply pile a 5-10cm layer of compost onto the beds and rake it flat. If there is still some time until you are ready to plant, it is worth covering the bare soil with cardboard or some weed-suppressing landscape fabric to protect it and to warm it up by a degree or two.
February is also the time to order seeds or plug plants for the coming months. Think carefully about what you want to grow and your reasons for doing so. Do you want unusual vegetables that you cannot find in the shops? Or just a good selection of the easiest, failsafe crops that you know your family will eat? Whatever your choices, I would recommend sowing a succession of easy, swift-growing crops such as salad leaves, chard, radishes, beetroot and perpetual spinach. Growing from seed is the cheapest option and offers the widest choice of varieties, but if short of time, you can opt for mail-order plug plants from sources such as Rocket Gardens and Marshalls Garden or visit your local garden centre where vegetable plants are often available in mid spring.
February’s essential kitchen garden tasks
- Prepare vegetable beds by adding organic matter.
- Chit seed potatoes ready for planting next month.
- If you have a greenhouse, make a first sowing of hardy crops such as mizuna, mustard greens and chard.
- Stake any broad beans planted in autumn.
- Make sure you have enough seed trays and compost for your main sowing months in March and April.
Where to buy vegetable seeds
Mail-order company Real Seeds specialises in heritage seeds designed for the keen home gardener, with a relatively small list that focuses on quality and taste.
Garden Organic runs a Heritage Seed Library to conserve fruit and vegetable varieties that are not widely available. The fee suggested for an individual membership is £7.50 a month, which entitles you to choose six free packets of seed a year.
The largest annual seed-swapping event in Britain, Seedy Sunday takes place on the first Sunday in February at Brighton Open Market. You can either bring your own collected seed of non-F1 hybrids to swap with fellow enthusiasts, or buy seeds for a small donation.
This story originally appeared on House & Garden UK.
