Finally, February! We will start to dig sometime this month where the soil is not too waterlogged or frozen. We will add in aged compost, maybe leaf mould and well-rotted cow muck from free-range farmer Tom. We will fork it in or just spread it around for worms to do the work. Whatever your choice, whether you prefer to no-dig or not, the soil is stirring now. It is also a good time to think about sowing hardy green manures.
Elsewhere, everywhere in the UK this month should be OK to chit – ie sprout – your preferred potatoes in a cool, light space. Blunt end up in egg boxes works best for me. Write names on a tag if you are mixing varieties, or first earlies with mains.
Start to sow broad beans into (unfrozen) soil outside or in sheltered pots. Finish off any winter pruning.
Temperatures can still plummet and be unstable this month, but sunlight won’t be denied. We gain around another hour in February with sunset at 5.30pm at the end in the Shetlands and gone 6pm in Penzance. We, of course, also gain the 29th.
Don’t leap too far ahead (my perennial problem), February is still a holding month, particularly on exposed sites or in the north. But garlic can likely go in the ground, too, with the usual caveats. The same with shallot sets.
Dig a runner-bean trench, fill it with organic matter and leave it to break down for later in the year. Plant rhubarb and Jerusalem artichokes in warmer areas.
Keep picking winter greens, kale and chard. We still have rocket and radicchio, though the puntarelle is over now.
This is your last month of inactivity, so remember to walk around, to think, keep an eye on bird feeders or ponds, consider a nesting box, soak up the late winter quiet. It starts to get a little more serious from here.
Allan Jenkins’s Plot 29 (4th Estate, £9.99) is out now. Order it for £8.79 from guardianbookshop.com
