February

Spring is in sight! With light levels increasing and hopefully temperature too Spring could be just around the corner. This month is a great time to finish our preparations for our vegetable patch and the busy season ahead.

• Prepare all of your vegetable beds, you can use cloches and fleece to start warming up the soil and put some early sowings under these.
• Keep and eye out for weeds, increasing soil temperature will increase growth, but this is a good sign that your soil is warm enough for vegetable sowings.
• Continue chitting your potatoes.
• Fruit trees, canes and hedges can still be planted (we are planting hedges and fruit trees around out smallholding, check out the blog for more information).
• This time of year is good for taking hardwood cuttings of fruit trees and shrubs.
• You still have time to clean out your greenhouse and shed, make sure all your seed trays are cleaned and store them when dry.
• Sow some seeds undercover . There is a lot that can be sown this month, have a look at the planting guide for all the vegetables ready for sowing.
• If you have been keeping any tree seeds in cold storage since Autumn, now is a good time to sow them.
• Watch out for pests that have over wintered, slugs and snails can be around at this time of year also. Consider pre-ordering nematode pest control to keep on top of common pests.
• If you have a wildlife pond now is a good time to repair and damage or leaks with minimal disturbance.
• Check on your compost heaps,they may want turning.