The Vegetable Plot – January

Every good potato deserves flavour

 

Off to the garden centre with you and pick up your seed potatoes, because there’s nothing like the taste sensation you get from home grown spuds.

You don’t need a big patch to grow them in, you can even use a large trug or bucket or even a stack of old tyres. But first you need to chit and that’s done by placing the miniature tubers into empty egg cartons with the eye area facing up.

Put them in a cool, light and dry place and in a few weeks the green shoots will appear. Don’t put them in the dark or warm, they will sprout. When ready you’ll plant them out in composts and later this year you’ll be tucking in the most flavoursome potatoes.

Other jobs to be getting on with may be tidying the vegetable plot and recycling what you remove by loading the compost heap. The end of the month might see you sowing broad beans and peas in a prepared, sheltered spot, and in a heated greenhouse you could be starting lettuce, cauliflower and early cabbage.

Cut back stems of autumn fruiting raspberry plants, down to ground level. Prune apple and pear trees. Have a cup of tea and enjoy this month’s Big Glut recipe.