Grow it Yourself - January

Every year I worry a little about whether I will find enthusiasm for growing my own food again – what if the year turns and I just don’t have any interest any more? I always take a decent break from the veg patch in December – it’s the one month when there’s very little work to do and the garden will forgive you if you don’t show up.

The “to-do” list is always full of things that no sensible person really bothers with – like cleaning your spade and mending fences and the like. So it’s a lazy month. But then BOOM, the clock moves over New Year’s Eve and in to New Year’s Day, and you wake up bleary eyed in to 2012 and according to all popular wisdom it’s now January and there’s loads of work to do again. How did that happen?

It doesn’t help of course that January can bring with it worse weather than December – it just doesn’t feel like spring, and of course officially it’s not spring – it’s still winter. The days are still short and cold and the garden is generally uninviting. Little wonder then that my enthusiasm for GIYing generally doesn’t show up until later in the year (usually March), when you can practically smell growth in the air.

In the meantime, a trick I’ve discovered is to get stuck in to some seed sowing. The cold weather and short days make it tricky to grow seedlings well at this time of the year (they get “leggy” as they literally reach for the sunlight) but you can get around that by putting them on a bright windowsill and investing in a warming mat or cable which gives seeds ‘heat from beneath’.

At this time of the year stick to vegetables that need a long growing season like tomatoes and peppers (they will benefit ultimately from the head start) or very quick growing veg like salad crops (mizuna, salad rocket, mustards etc). Approach seed sowing at this time of the year with a devil may care attitude – they may grow or they may not but sod it, it’s still worth it – there’s simply nothing like seed sowing to get the GIY juices flowing again.

Happy New Year from GIY!

Things to do

To Do

Plan. This is the time to decide where and what you are going to grow this year. If you are just starting out join your local GIY group for advice and check out our website for handy “getting started” guides and videos.

Consider building or buying raised vegetable beds. Order your seeds, onions sets and seed potatoes. Turn over the soil in February only if the weather is dry – if the soil sticks to your boots it’s too early for digging! “Chit” seed potatoes – put them in a container (e.g. used egg carton or empty seed tray) and leave them in a bright warm place to sprout.

Sow

In mid Feb, in seed trays and pots on a sunny windowsill indoors sow celery, globe artichokes, celeriac, leeks, onions, lettuce, tomatoes, peas, aubergines, peppers/chilli-peppers. Weather permitting outside you can try sowing broadbeans, spinach, kohlrabi, onion and shallot sets, Jerusalem artichokes, parsnip and early pea varieties.

Harvest

You may still have winter cabbage, perpetual spinach, chard, leeks, kale, cauliflowers and Brussels sprouts in your veggie patch and depending on how successful your growing/storage regime last year was, you may well still be tucking in to stores of potatoes, celeriac, carrots, parsnips, onions, cauliflower, jerusalem artichokes, winter squash, pumpkins, leeks and red cabbage.

Recipe of the Month - Colcannon

Serves 4

I love the warming earthiness of colcannon – it’s my favourite way to eat cabbage. You can also use kale for this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 500g of cabbage – stalks removed and shredded
• 500g potatoes, scrubbed
• 2 sticks butter
• 150ml hot milk
• 4 spring onions, finely chopped

Steam the potatoes in their skins for a half hour, then peel and mash them. Add a lump of butter. Season well. Meanwhile steam the cabbage or kale in a small amount of boiling water until tender. Don’t overcook.

Put the milk in a pan and throw in the spring onions, simmering for about 5 minutes. Add this and the cabbage/kale to the spuds and beat well.

Serve with a knob of butter on top and sprinkle with some parsley. Some chopped ham or crispy bacon added in before serving also works a treat.


Tip of the Month – Don’t Tread on Me

Be careful not to get too enthusiastic about preparing soil at this time of the year. If you work on soil when it’s wet, it will damage the soil structure. If the soil sticks to your boots when you walk on it, then you shouldn’t be walking on it.

If you have to walk on the soil to get at your veggies, put a plank of timber down and walk on that instead. The timber distributes your weight more evenly. If you haven’t already done so, it’s worth covering down an area of your soil to warm it up – use a cloche or black polythene.

This will make the soil warm up far quicker than it would otherwise and will mean you can start sowing in it far earlier. In very wet weather it will also help to dry the soil out.


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We are trying to get 100,000 people to take a pledge to grow something they can eat – take the GIY pledge at www.facebook.com/giyireland.

Michael Kelly is a freelance journalist, author and founder of GIY Ireland.

GIY’s purpose is to transform people’s health and wellbeing, stenghten communities and protect the environment by empowering people to grow their own food. We do this by bringing people together in communities and online to share tips and information. There are nearly 100 GIY groups around Ireland and 12,000 GIYers involved.
For more tips, information and support visit www.giyireland.com.

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