FebruaryThe first sowings, indoors
February is still a winter month, but the light is coming back and that changes everything. The days lengthen by an hour and a half over the month, enough to start the first sowings under cover: peppers, aubergines and early tomatoes towards the end of the month, on a warm, bright windowsill. Outside, you can plant garlic and shallots if the soil has drained, and set seed potatoes to chit in a bright room.
Tips of the month
- Sow peppers and aubergines indoors and, at the end of the month, the first tomatoes.
- Set seed potatoes to chit in a tray, in full light.
- Plant garlic, shallots and onions if the ground is not waterlogged.
- Sow broad beans and peas under cover, or outdoors if the weather allows.
- Spread compost on the beds that will take the hungry crops.
- Finish pruning pip fruit trees and soft fruit.
- Plant bare-root fruit trees and bushes.
In the vegetable garden and orchard
What to do in february
Sow under cover
Sowing in the ground
Plant
On the plate
Eating in february
February carries winter cooking on: braised chicory, leek and potato soup, warm cabbage salad with cumin, roast parsnips. The last stored apples go into stewed fruit and tarts.
Living well
A tray of pots on the kitchen windowsill is life growing before your eyes just when you need it most. Watching a tomato seed come up in February is a small antidote to the grey.