What I’m sowing and growing in January
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- Опубліковано 21 жов 2024
- Here's the database view that I'm looking at in this video: airtable.com/s...
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My books and videos are all grounded in what I actually do, I make sure you can see the evidence. For example if I suggest sowing carrots in November, take a look at my monthly tours to see them growing and my harvest videos for May to see the actual results. I'm not just about regurgitaing information from the backs of seed packets!
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This is such a big help, thank you
Just got some cabbages in thanks Steve.
some lovely colourful veggies there!
Sadly the current harvest is still a bit too green
Thanks for the reminder that the season is coming. My cold frames and a layer of row cover kept my things alive at 8°F.
Most of mine too, although the early PSB is looking rough and the field beans on my plot died (Debbie's plot was fine) and a few exposed lettuces are being replaced today : All the best - Steve
Like you I love to see the plants starting to grow. I am building a poly tunnel this year for my dragon fruit and naranjilla and tamarillo as like you my tamarillo was fruiting and that -9 destroyed my fruit so really upset. Will be prepared this year. Happy new year Steve
A polytunnel won't help with the cold at night, especially when it's frozen for days on end, in fact it's colder at night than outside, but it eliminates the wind chill. Add a layer of fleece though and that helps : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards thanks Steve for info and yes the fleece double layer didn’t stop that freezing weather but I will cover in poly tunnel with fleece aswell. 👍
Thankyou Steve, it feels very grounding to turn to your video with plans of seeds for the new year. Lovely calm video following a very busy Christmas.
Our 4 days of Christmas are over now, so I'm gradually getting back into gardening too : All the best - Steve
Thanks for sharing this information - New to Gardening/growing Veg and also You Tube.
Just take a note of the "days under lights" and "planting location" data, these are critical to success this early. Also watch my seedling progress videos and that will give you a good idea, on potting on times and general progress : All the best - Steve
For much more info relevant to new growers see my free ebook, linked in the description : all the best - Steve
I’m standing in my propagation room, adding fig cuttings to an aquaponics system and binge watching your videos. Well, probably listening more than watching. But it strikes me how important your channel and your work is to your fellow Brits at this time. You have literally given them all of the information that they need to grow fruit and veg, and help them survive the current economic crisis. In case anyone hasn’t told you lately, what you do is vital. Thank you for sharing your information so freely. Cheers.🎉
I hope so, thanks for the lovely feedback!
Thank you Steve, as always your videos are so helpful to us. Happy new year!
Thanks Carol : All the best - Steve
Thanks Steve for all your videos through 2022. One particular revelation has been the incredible use of field beans during the winter months! Wow!these have been wonderful in my winter garden and they keep on growing through the low light of December and now January 2023. 😊😊
That's great news Angie, unfortunately mine all died in the big freeze, but the ones on Debbie's allotment, about 50m away were fine! : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards Thanks Steve, sorry to hear your's perished 😔 I'm amazed here in the south of England they give me such a good crop to add to soups etc. Can't thank you enough for bringing this underated (unknown ?) crop to my attention! ❤️❤️
That's the beauty of having too plots, we still get a crop
I’ve sown field beans on your advice but I was a bit late and I thought they had perished in the cold snap. 😢. However they broke cover at New Year and seem to be fine. My broad beans were sown earlier under double netting hoops and are a bit wonky with the gales but I’ll stake them later. I’m following your January sowing but no longer have a poly tunnel. But thanks for all the info and my chillies have just gone in. I’m in N Yorkshire. Regards
Hi Steve, Thank you for the video, All the very BEST to you and your family in 2023, Take care.
Thanks Ronald, you too, I hope you're feeling a bit more enthusiastic than you were last year : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards Hi Steve, Unfortunately not but I'm making a start, Take care.
Thank you Steve for all your knowledge. Love your calm, comprehensive way of presenting these videos. Happy New Year!
Thanks Sara, I'm pleased someone does ;-) that's the way I like to make videos : All the best - Steve
Thanks Steve will be following your sowing and planting dates this year being the first full year on my allotment, im just down the road in Southport so the timings will be just about identical. All the best for the new year.
Just take a note of the "days under lights" and "planting location" data Loz, these are critical to success this early. Also watch my seedling progress videos and that will give you a good idea, on potting on times and general progress : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards yes will do thanks Steve I have a grow light set up in the conservatory with a few things on the go adding an extension to the poly tunnel right now in readiness for all the sowing to come 👍
Thank you Steve I love learning from your videos, it’s so helpful for a novice like myself ! Thank you Karen 🙏🏼
Thanks so much for the feedback : All the best - Steve
Regarding onions: I've found Santero benefit from early sowing (mine were sown a week ago) but Bedfordshire Champion tend to bolt if sown before mid February.
As you say; Grenoble Red is a superb lettuce both in growing & in eating.
If I were to choose one lettuce it would be Grenoble Red, because it's good all year, but it's not my favourite for any season. I've seen little research of onion timings and cold tolerance, yesterday in a gardening magazine it said onion need to be kept above 10c! Which mine never have been, they've always enjoyed and thrived through many a frost : All the best - Steve
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences with us Steve, always very interesting to watch. Happy New Year to you and your family 😊
Happy new year to you too Karen : All the best - Steve
Excellent information as ever; perfect timing for new year's gardening resolutions. Mine is to get a crop of fennel that doesn't all go to seed....
Thanks, Fennel's one of those crops I don't sow, it self seeded everywhere, so I just prick them out and transplant
Thx for the help in what to sow. Broad beans and leeks for me today I think! Happy New Year 👍🏻
I think I will do 12 broad beans to replace the ones that died in the polytunnel, but the rest will wait until February. I don't do my main crop leeks until March, but I have a few early ones too : All the best - Steve
Agree about beetroot, actually I read that beets and chards are Mediterranean in origin and are in a sense hot weather crops. My rainbow chard survived scorching drought conditions last year. Conversely, I've tried growing beetroot over winter just out in the open and it mostly survives (unless you get a real brutal frost sub -12-15) but it doesn't seem to thrive at all and you're just better starting them in modules in late winter (Feb for me), hopefully to go out at the first sign of warmer weather and longer days.
That makes a lot of sense. I don't usually leave beetroot outside, because I need the space for winter planting, but this year I didn't have quite as much space, so I left a small bed and it was all killed by the frost. With grow lights I find mid January works for most things, because by the time they've had their 21 days under LEDs, the lights levels in mid/late February are good enough for them : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards Yes, I think I will be going that route this year, I just went out to my allotment and confirmed that belief - the beets I planted in later summer failed to bulb up at all (very slow growth, due to shortening days I guess), that's what seems to happen in winter, and then they will just go to seed as soon as the days get longer and warmer, no point trying that again.
I used to find that storage beets did well planted in mid-June and even July, the past two years, they've been much slower. The only ones that grew to storage size this year were planted in May! I'm not sure why, in part I'm struggling to find beds for them that are in full sun and maybe it's also just the dry/hot weather. When I started growing 7 years ago I tried to follow Charles Dowding's dates, but I've realised that is a fools errand as my sandy soil and shady beds, aren't remotely like his silty loam and full sun everywhere! : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards I'm sort of glad I'm not the only one struggling with this. I tried interplanting mine amongst the tomatoes to protect them from the full sun and they failed do anything. I thought when I removed the tomatoes they would take off, but I think it was a bit late by then (mid-November!) But I feel sure they would struggle in full sun when it's 40 C as well. I also have very sandy soil and the water drains away very quickly. Maybe I need a few more years of compost additions for the soil to become more accommodating. Just goes to show one size doesn't fit all, though, I do question the wisdom of "sowing calendars", not even your ebook is a help as far as timings go, each gardener just has to figure these things out for themselves.
I agree, calendars are fairly useless unless you are sowing at times when nothing fails. That’s why I’ve tried to make it fairly easy to take copies of my book and database to modify. I wish I had the time to make it slick and easy though : all the best - Steve
Brilliant, really useful. You are a fountain of knowledge!
Glad it was helpful! : All the best - Steve
Happy New Year Steve. I'm looking forward to another year of growing and I will be watching closely to see what you are growing.
Thanks, I'm sowing today and planting tomorrow! Trying to recover from all the losses I had in that cold snap! : All the best - Steve
Could you do a video that doesn't use grow lights Steve .We haven't all got the space or money .
Not at this time of year Susie, I don’t use grow lights once we have enough natural light, late February and March. I understand the money issue btw, I don’t have any money to spend on gardening, it all has to come from savings on the food bill. I don’t have much space for lights either, my main ones are on top of a wardrobe : all the best - Steve
Here's a list for February airtable.com/shryiFXUCHaLJQTJr, just pick the things on the list according to the growing environment that you have available in the 'growing seedlings' and 'grow plants' columns. These videos are "what I'm sowing" rather than "what you should sow", for that advice look at my ebook : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards thank you ☺️ I wasn't having a dig by the way I simply get confused on what I can and can't sow and what will need additional light .
Everything needs additional light in January really, things will grow without it, but they won’t be as healthy as plants that are sown in late February, so there’s little point. Hence me not having anything in the video grown without lights. The only way around not having lights is to grow cold, but above freezing. You ask a good question though and it’s difficult to solve because there are so many factors: sowing temp, seedlings temp, growing temp, sowing light, seedling light, growing light and then the same again for planting and growing to maturity and all the options there: heated conservatory, house windowsill, heated greenhouse, Unheated greenhouse, polytunnel, low tunnel, coldframe and fleece. Then you have where in the country you are, let alone which country. Hence I don’t do a “sow this in march” video, I do a what “I’m sowing” video and refer people to my book for the details. This year even the book struggles to cut through all the complexity, but that will be solved for next year. Sometimes I understand why Charles Dowding does what he does, trying to convince people that there’s a perfect date for everything lol : all the best - Steve
Hi Steve I was wondering if you could tell me about manure.
I have just taken on an allotment and ordered myself some manure, top soil and mushroom compost. When putting into the raised bed I have built what order should I layer it in. I was thinking put the manure in first then the top soil and finally the mushroom compost. Is that totally wrong ? Thanks your videos are a fantastic library of knowledge and love watching them 😀
Thanks Stuart, yes, that a good order, you could happily mix the manure and top soil, rather than layer it, but use mushroom compost on top as that is free of weed seeds! : all the best - Steve
What’s the weather like for you coming up Steve? Was going to sow some today but we’ve got frosts for the next fortnight up to -5 and my greenhouse drops a lot so am thinking I might wait now abit. Though I’ve put a mini greenhouse in the greenhouse for abit of added protection so might give it ago anyway. The December cold snap killed off everything of mine apart from 2 cabbages in the ground
Light frosts and fabulous sunny weather with light winds, I will be out hiking and cycling all week :-). I’m not worried for my seedlings I only have Asian greens, lettuce, brassicas and alliums, they are all fine with a light frost and if it’s colder a fleece blanket will solve that. My peppers are at home : all the best - Steve
Steve, did the potatoes that you store in pots down the side of the house come through the big freeze OK?
I lost a few of the Estima that were touching the edges of the pots. I emptied a tub of Charlottes this week and they were almost all fine
That's good to know. I lost quite a lot in pots so probably need to make sure I put them in a more sheltered and drier spot this year (we'd had a lot of rain before the freeze).
Happy New Year! Thanks for the video. As the hot summer becomes norm in uk, would you recommend some lettuces which might be a bit drought resilient? Thank you
It's in my ebook, linked in the description but here's the summary: airtable.com/shrCDJGj1RE9EsrR3/tblhe6GJWB46yrww1
Also just grow in shade
Happy New Year.Fantastic very helpful video. What app do you use to record the planting schedule?
It's my own Darren, see link in the description. I'm just finishing off the new version this week : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards Brilliant well done. Will check it out asap.
Thank you Steve ditto Sara C................
Thanks Frankie! : All the best - Steve