I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling reluctant to head out into the garden right now. Despite imbibing the New Year’s message that now’s the time to resolve to be a better grower, the middle of winter is actually an uninspiring time to make gardening resolutions. But while these short days are seldom motivating, we humans fare better if we spend a little time outside during the daylight hours – so here are some things I’ll be doing in the veg patch over the coming weeks.
I’m certainly not a neat grower in the summer but now that much has died back, I indulge my more pedantic side and do some tidying. I try to be very intentional about this – the leaves I gather are swept off the path and moved on to the perennial beds or piled up to make leaf mould, and any stems that I cut back won’t be the hollow kind that might be housing overwintering insects – so that I won’t unintentionally damage my little ecosystem.
You wouldn’t want to bother your compost heap much while it’s cold, as this would lead to a loss of any warmth it has generated, slowing down any decomposition that might still be ticking over. But I try not to ignore my compost entirely as it may need to be covered to prevent it becoming over-saturated during heavy rain and secured against the creatures looking for scraps to eat. You might also consider wrapping your bin in cardboard or surrounding your compost bays with hay to encourage the decomposition process to remain active.
Another relatively straightforward, delightfully monotonous and extremely satisfying task is tool care. Ideally this should be an ongoing process, but in realisty I’m a bit slapdash during the growing season, so it makes sense to attend to my tools during this quiet time.
Bring all of your tools out of the shed and give them a good brush, perhaps a wash if they’re really mucky, and then carefully dry them so that the metal doesn’t rust and the wood doesn’t swell or rot. Clean up secateurs, harvest knifes and blades using a scourer and some WD-40 to remove the sap and gunk before giving them a sharpen. Then you can treat your tools with camellia oil, applied with a rag, to protect the metal.
If venturing outside during these short winter days really isn’t for you, this is an ideal time to make a pot of tea, grab a leftover mince pie and sit down with a seed catalogue to draw up your 2025 wishlist.
I also like to look through Instagram posts that I’ve bookmarked to consider varieties that have caught my attention over the past season, and put them into my dream planting plan for the year to come.
