Finish any major digging and weeding if you have not done so already.

Plan a crop rotation system for your vegetable plot, to ensure that the same crops are not grown in the same beds year after year. This helps to prevent disease build up.

You can rake in lime this month - if you have acid soil, or have had previous problems with club root, and wish to grow brassicas - but remember that the ground will not be ready for planting out until April or May, as an interval of two months is needed between liming and planting.

Continue to harvest any remaining winter crops (e.g. broccoli, Brussels sprouts, leeks, parsnips, swede, celeriac and turnip).

Continue to force chicory and seakale. Dig up selected chicory roots, pot them up, and position them in a dark, warm place (10-13°C; 50-55°F), with an upturned pot over them to exclude light. The tasty chicons will appear in three to six weeks. Seakale is best forced outside at seasonal temperatures, with an upturned pot or cardboard box/tube over the top to exclude the light.

Continue to force rhubarb before it comes into natural growth towards the end of February, or March. Place a large bucket, dustbin or forcing jar over the crown to encourage the fresh, pink shoots to form in the darkness. A few shovels of manure, straw and poultry manure pellets thrown over the top will create extra warmth to speed up the process.

From mid-February onwards sow greenhouse-grown tomatoes and cucumbers. Use a heated propagator or warm room at 21°C (70°F) to encourage germination, and then keep them potted on at a lower temperature of 15-18°C (60-65°F).

Unpack mail ordered onion sets and shallots, and keep them in a dry, airy place - perhaps in net bags - until you're ready for planting.

Chit seed potato tubers as soon as they arrive. Stand them upright with the rose end (having most shoots) facing upwards in a light, cool but frost-free place. Old egg boxes make excellent holders.

Order asparagus crowns from suppliers.

Prepare new asparagus beds by weeding, digging over thoroughly, and incorporating lots of organic matter. Additional grit, together with lots of organic matter, may improve conditions on very heavy soils.

Plant out garlic and shallots in light soils only; heavy soils need longer to warm up.

If you have light (sandy) soil and live in a mild part of the UK, you can sow broad beans, carrots, parsnips, early beetroot, bulb onions, lettuces, radish, peas, spinach and summer cabbage outside under cloches, in soil that has been covered for a few weeks to pre-warm it. If the weather in your area has been very cold, then wait until late February. If you have heavy (clay) soil, it is best to wait until March. Seeds can always be sown in pots or modules, under cover, if you are eager to get started.

Peas can be sown in the greenhouse in old (but clean) guttering that has had drainage holes drilled in the bottom. Starting them under cover gives them a head start. When the seedlings are ready for planting out, the whole row can be gently pushed out of the guttering, into a ready prepared drill in the vegetable garden.

Plant Jerusalem artichoke tubers. They can act as a screen for the shed or compost bin, as they get quite tall.

Feed any spring cabbages that have been standing all winter. High nitrogen feeds such as Growmore or pelleted poultry manure are fine.

When spring cabbages are ready to harvest, cut them off the stem and make a cross in the top of the cut stem. Sometimes mini-cabbages, or ‘spring greens’ will grow from the cut stems.

If you are very keen, you could prepare your runner bean supports and trenches for sowing (in May) or planting out (in June). This will save you time later.

Try to avoid digging in wet weather, but if gardening on top of wet soil, work from a plank of wood, to avoid treading on the bed and compacting the soil.

Pest & disease watch

Place mice controls near stored vegetables.

Regularly check stores and remove any rotting or mouldy specimens.

Ensure that crops remaining in the ground, and new sowings under cloches, are protected from mice.

Slugs can still pose a threat and slug controls are necessary now, as always.

Pigeons are serious pests of brassicas and other vegetables. Cloches, frames of netting or fleece, and metal cages will help to keep them away from vulnerable crops.

Pick yellowing leaves off Brussels sprouts and other brassicas promptly, to prevent spread of grey mould and brassica downy mildew.

Attracting wildlife to your garden can help to control pest problems for the coming year.

January February March April May June July August September October November December