January Gardening To Do List

Monthly Calender for Newbie Gardener’s in the Southern Hemisphere.

January Notes.

IMPORTANT MONTH
For planting seeds for autumn and collecting herb cutting’s. Enjoying the fruits of your kitchen garden and the sunshine!!

PLANTING:

Sow Direct Seeds for:
Vegetables:
Beetroot (pre-soak seed)
Carrot
Climbing, Bush & Dwarf Beans
Cabbage
Lettuce
Silver Beet (pre-soak seed)
Sweetcorn

Sow in trays or Plant out:
Vegetables:
Ageratum
Brussels sprouts
Cauliflower
Cucumber
Leeks
Watercress
Spring onions
Herbs:
Parsley
Chervil
Coriander
Basil
Dandelion
Lemon Grass
Late Summer Flowers:
Petunia
Verbena
Calendula
French Marigold

In Warmer Areas: Also sow direct:
Sunflowers
Nasturtium
Parsnip
Radish
Zucchini
Mango
Potatoes
Rock Melon
Summer Squash
Tomato
Water Melon

In Cooler Areas: Also Sow:
Pansy
Viola
Phlox
Stocks
Sweetpea

Grow a green manure crop or cover crop of: Cowpea, mungbean, pigeon pea, millet, Japanese millet, sorghum.
In suitable soils grow amaranth.

GENERAL
Take Cuttings of: Hyssop, lavender, mint, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, watercress.

Lightly prune: All established bush roses, ceratoperalum not cut at christmas.

Clip Diosma lightly

Keep earthing up/moling potatoes, this ensures good development of potatoes & encourages a higher yield

Pick out seedling if needed

Watch ALL plants, they will let you know what they need: water, space, nutrients or tying up.

Turn compost at the end of January, this is to encourage more organisms, these breakdown the main bulk of compost.

Remove weeds from beds before seed heads appear. I leave smaller weeds on the edge of the garden beds to wilt down as they return nutrients back into the soil.

MOISTURE CONTROL
WATCH moisture levels in soil carefully, water stress from lack of moisture will cause pest & disease problems

WHOLE vegetable garden will benefit from liquid fish about now. I don’t have this so I use liquid seaweed, I have a bucket of seaweed which I keep topped up with water, the chickens & ducks LOVE this to drink.

WATER Strawberries until the end of the month. Cover with netting to protect fruit from birds.

DO NOT water Tomatoes at night now, as this will cause the fruit to rot

HARVEST
Plums
Sweetcorn
Basil
Zucchini
Tomatoes.
Garlic & Onions
Any Fruit in Orchard, Apricots should be ripe for the picking.

FEEDING
On Damp Soil: Apply fertiliser tea to: Melons sown in December, cabbage, leek. lettuce, silver beet, young passion fruit if necessary.

Apply seaweed tea to: Asparagus seedlings & young crowns. Also to potato beds for February planting.

Water: Fruit trees & vines regularly after harvest.

Lightly fertilize Kangaroo Paw, Natives if not fertilized in spring.

ORCHARD JOBS
MONTHLY feed trees with liquid seaweed/worm tea, this prevents disease & strengthen’s the cell tissues, it also strengthens soil micro-organisms
Pinch out the young buds on the tips of the fig trees to help nutrients go to the fruit (my fig trees are HUGE, this was a mission, I can tell you!!)

PEST CONTROL
Neem oil can be used for ALL pests, but I will try companion planting & other ideas first
Spray Brussel Sprouts with liquid seaweed to prevent insect attack, also when planting young Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Cabbage & Cauliflower put cardboard collars, around plants sunk into the ground, this also prevents insect attack.
Sprinkle wood ash around Cauliflowers, this helps stop insect attack.
If your Tomatoes have a virus, spray with milk
Plant a Mustard crop to catch Shield bugs