December

Vegetables such as lambs lettuce, spinach, winter onion, leek, Brussel sprouts and curly kale can remain on the beds in winter. While lambs lettuce continues to grow in mild winter temperatures and therefore should not be covered, it is a good idea to give vegetables such as leek some frost protection.

You should check stored vegetables (root vegetables, tuber vegetables, etc.) on a regular basis. Immediately remove any rotting vegetables.

Harvesting can also continue into December with suitable vegetables such as curly kale, Brussels sprouts, Chinese cabbage, spinach, lamb’s lettuce, leek or salsify. If the vegetable bed is already frozen, you should not touch or harvest the vegetables as tissue damage may occur even at the lightest touch and lead to rotting.

Provide animals with a place to hibernate on the harvested beds. Piles of brushwood or leaves and wood piles of felled wood offer insects, hedgehogs, shrews, lizards, weasels and many other animals a good hiding place. Toads and frogs often like to hide in a shallow hollow in the ground with a slab of stone laid over it. Never disturb the animals in any way over the winter.

To grow chives on the windowsill, dig them out of the bed before the first frost and first leave them there. If necessary, you can bring in a small amount of the root ball and plant it in a peat-free soil especially adapted for herbs. The chives quickly grow in a warm room and produce vitamin-rich seasoning for winter.

Feed herbs with Organic Multipurpose Plant Feed, a pure organic liquid fertiliser. Apply every 1–4 weeks depending on plant type.