Grow your own: January

What to sow, plant and pick in a Whitchurch & Symonds Yat garden or allotment in January. Whitchurch & Symonds Yat sits in a frost-prone valley, so tender crops go out at the end of May, not the start.

Jobs for January

Order seeds and plan where everything will go (rotate crops each year).
Start chillies on a warm windowsill.
Prune apple and pear trees while they're dormant.

Sow indoors

On a windowsill, in a greenhouse or under cover

Chillies & peppersfrost-tender
They need a long, warm season — start early on a sunny windowsill.

Sow outside

Straight into the ground

Nothing this month.

Plant out

Seedlings, sets and young plants

Garlic
It needs a cold spell to form proper bulbs — autumn planting is best.
Rhubarb
Don't pull any in its first year, and stop picking in July.

Ready to harvest

Leeks
Parsnips
Kale
Brussels sprouts