January
From Allotments4All
Not much can be sown outdoors in January, but indoors, one can sow salad vegetables (eg lettuce), onions, summer cabbage and cauliflowers and spinach. These will germinate at temperatures of 13-16°C and will do well on a bright window sill. The seedlings will have to be pricked out in and potted on for hardening off under cloches or in cold frames in February before being planted in the open ground in March.
Tomatoes, peppers and aubergines may also be sown in January, if a heated greenhouse or conservatory is available. It is too early to sow these crops otherwise, as they cannot go into an unheated greenhouse or outdoors until April or May and will become etiolated if grown indoors, unless artifical lighting can be used.
January is not too late to plant Garlic, although some varieties do prefer an earlier start.
Strawberry seeds may be sown indoors at 20°C in January, for planting out in April. Bare root fruit bushes/trees may be planted out, when soil and weather conditions are suitable (ie not too cold and wet). Pruning of soft fruit and apple/pear trees which was not done early may also be done in January, provided it is not freezing. Hardwood cuttings of gooseberries and currants may be taken also.
