✤✤✤ MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE ✤✤✤
THE KITCHEN GARDEN
DUTIES FOR THE LATE WINTER MONTHS
Issued for the Guidance of the Allotment Holder and Cottage Gardener
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CROPPING, SOIL WORK & PREPARATION
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[ ] Prepare the cropping plan using past records and sound rotation.
[ ] Dig whenever soil conditions allow; work little and often as beds clear.
[ ] Add manure during digging; lime autumn‑manured beds now, never together.
[ ] Break down soil after frost; fork to produce a fine tilth.
[ ] Clean paths and working areas after digging to discourage pests.
[ ] Lift parsnips and leeks in wet spells; store parsnips in sand.
[ ] Start a new compost heap using suitable household waste.
[ ] Remove 1–2 inches of soil around wall fruit and top‑dress with bone meal.
[ ] Prepare onion beds with bone meal and general fertiliser; apply lime where needed.
[ ] Break up compacted ground around fruit trees after pruning.
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SEED ORDERING, STORAGE & CHITTING
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[ ] Order seeds and seed potatoes without delay.
[ ] Begin chitting seed potatoes; later reduce sprouts to two for maincrop.
[ ] Examine stored potatoes and root crops; remove unsound specimens.
[ ] Select sound onions for seed‑saving and pot individually.
[ ] Sort stored apples and pears; use any that show shrivelling.
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SOWING OUTDOORS WHEN CONDITIONS PERMIT
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[ ] Sow peas, radish and round‑seeded spinach in warm positions.
[ ] Sow parsnips as soon as soil can be worked cleanly.
[ ] Sow broad beans outdoors or in trays for later planting.
[ ] Sow shorthorn carrots, beetroot and radishes under cloches or in warm spots.
[ ] Sow early dwarf peas (round‑seeded) for hardiness.
[ ] Sow Brussels sprouts and summer cabbage in cold frames.
[ ] Plant autumn‑sown onions now.
[ ] Sow early peas, sprouts and summer carrots in frames.
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SOWING UNDER GLASS, IN FRAMES & INDOORS
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[ ] Sow onions, lettuce and cauliflowers in gentle heat.
[ ] Sow peas in pots for March planting.
[ ] Sow mustard and cress regularly; sow cress earlier.
[ ] Sow leeks for June planting.
[ ] Sow sprouts in trays; prick out later.
[ ] Sow cucumbers singly in pots at 55–60°F.
[ ] Make the first tomato sowing; light is limited.
[ ] Sow turnips, radish and carrots in a newly made hot‑bed.
[ ] Sow summer cabbage and cauliflowers in frames.
[ ] Sow maincrop onions urgently; prick out January sowings.
[ ] Sow parsley indoors.
[ ] Sow celery in trays at 55–60°F.
[ ] Maintain follow‑on lettuce sowings for frames and cloches.
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TRANSPLANTING & PLANTING OUT
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[ ] Transplant autumn‑sown onions to final positions.
[ ] Plant onion sets 12 in. by 6 in.
[ ] Plant shallots as soon as ground is workable.
[ ] Replant leeks in sheltered spots.
[ ] Plant Jerusalem artichokes 5–6 in. deep, spaced to avoid shading.
[ ] Lift and store artichokes annually to keep them manageable.
[ ] Complete planting of fruit trees if soil allows.
[ ] Plant early strawberries in pots or frames for forcing.
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GREENHOUSE, FRAME & HOT‑BED WORK
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[ ] Make and begin using a hot‑bed for early crops.
[ ] Pot young tomatoes into 3½‑inch pots; keep at 60°F.
[ ] Make another tomato sowing if required.
[ ] Pot cucumbers into 5‑inch pots.
[ ] Prepare greenhouse troughs for tomatoes (12–15 in. wide, 10 in. deep).
[ ] Maintain lettuce succession; plant seedlings 8 in. apart.
[ ] Water greenhouse lettuces carefully, avoiding leaves.
[ ] Grow strawberries in pots, increasing pot size gradually.
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PROTECTION & MANAGEMENT OF WINTER CROPS
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[ ] Protect autumn‑sown onions with cloches or fleece.
[ ] Ventilate cold frames freely; cover in frosts.
[ ] Remove dead or diseased leaves; block cloche ends against draughts.
[ ] Draw soil up around broad beans; sow more if weather permits.
[ ] Earth up spring cabbage to encourage fresh rooting.
[ ] Examine cabbage, kale and broccoli; bend outer leaves over centres.
[ ] Fill gaps in cabbage rows using frame‑grown reserves.
[ ] Remove dead leaves from broccoli and calabrese.
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FRUIT TREES, SOFT FRUIT & WALL FRUIT
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[ ] Complete winter pruning of fruit trees.
[ ] Thin fruit spurs on espaliers before spraying.
[ ] Winter‑spray fruit trees with dormant oil on dry, non‑freezing days.
[ ] Service sprayers and ensure materials are at hand.
[ ] After gales, firm in or stake young trees.
[ ] Protect peach blossom from frost with doubled fish‑netting.
[ ] Spray peaches with Bordeaux or Burgundy mixture.
[ ] Protect fruit buds from bullfinches using black cotton.
[ ] Cut back autumn‑planted raspberries to 1 ft.
[ ] Examine blackcurrants; remove swollen buds (big bud mite).
[ ] Tie wall fruit to wires, avoiding canvas or rags.
[ ] Paint large pruning wounds (historical practice).
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FORCING & PROPAGATION
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[ ] Force rhubarb indoors; keep crowns moist and dark.
[ ] Prepare additional forced rhubarb if crowns permit.
[ ] Force rhubarb and seakale outdoors using pots or barrels.
[ ] Maintain succession of forced rhubarb and seakale.
[ ] Lift last indoor seakale crowns for forcing.
[ ] Propagate seakale using 6‑inch “thongs” in boxes of soil.
[ ] Force herbs such as chives, mint and tarragon at 55°F.
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ADDITIONAL SEASONAL DUTIES
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[ ] Maintain greenhouse lettuce succession; remove poor leaves.
[ ] Check September‑sown onions in frames for slugs and ventilation.
[ ] Attend to tomato seedlings when true leaves appear.
[ ] Maintain order in frames and cloches, guarding against frost and damp.
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✤ DIG FOR VICTORY ✤
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