Gardening.ie

IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN

Dig up your rosemary, basil, tarragon, oregano, marjoram, thyme, parsley, and chives to grow them inside as houseplants. Keep them in a cool, sunny spot, and allow the soil to dry out before watering. Snip off the leaves as needed in the kitchen, but do not strip them completely

Tidy up your mint, I have mine in a pot, and every year or so, I empty out, and remove the older part of the plant, and pot up the younger growth.

Cut and store marrows before the frosts.

Put cloches over late salad crops such as lettuce and radish to keep them cropping. Look out for slugs

Do I dig my carrots up now or can i leave them in the ground?

You can do both really depending on the type you have. I dig mine up and store them in the shed. There is less of a chance of pests eating them

Hi,
we have a large plot of asparagus and need to move it will it hurt to move it now?

Yes you would.
move it in March then have to treat is as a new bed. ie no cutting in year 1. 1 or 2 fronds per plant in year 2, light cutting year 3. full production year 4.

You'd be better off weeding the patch now and mulching and feeding then plant new crowns to fill the holes in March.

thanks to Peaty from selfsufficientish

I have grown mustard as a green manure over about half of my plot and cut it back before it flowered.
Now, I thought I read somewhere that instead of digging it in, it can be left on the top to rot and get taken down naturally as you can with a layer of manure or compost.
Or am I just trying to get out of digging!

I am a big "No dig" fan myself.

Why do all of the hard work when the micro organisms and worms can do it for you? You might be left with a few fiberous stalks next spring, these can be compsted if they get in the way.

Sit back and relax!

Cheers

some jobs this month

Established fruit trees such as apples and pears (but not stone fruits such as plums and peaches) may have dead and diseased wood cut out, as well as misplaced crossing branches. This reduces disease and lets light in to to ripen the fruit.

If you like to get the kitchen garden or allotment off to an early start, begin warming and drying the soil now, by placing a row of cloches or a stretch of clear polythene in a bright area, in preparation for new sowings in a few weeks time.

Take some time right now to plan this year's vegetable plot so that you know what and how much to order. When it's planting time this spring, you'll be too hurried to think about any different arrangement for your garden.