This section sets out a month-by-month posssible plan of action on the allotment as a guide for what to do 
– and when to do it! 

January

• Order your seeds, onion sets and seed potatoes if not yet done
• Start off garlic and shallots in pots in a cold frame
• Give a potash dressing to strawberries, gooseberries and currants (white and red)
• Sow sweet peas in a heated greenhouse
• If you have a heated greenhouse, you can also sow French beans in pots
• Start chitting your seed potatoes in pots in a cold frame

February

• Start sowing cabbage, lettuce, peas and cauliflower in a heated greenhouse
• Plant new rhubarb crowns just below the surface
• You can start sowing parsnip seed, but it may be too cold to germinate
• Plant broad beans in pots for an early crop
• Check your stored potatoes from last year; rub off any sprouts appearing
• Tie in new blackberry shoots as they appear and before they get too long
• Start successional sowing of summer spinach
• Start successional sowing of radishes
• You can start sowing your onion sets now if the ground is not too hard or wet
• Sow your first peas in pots in the cold frame or under fleece direct into the ground
• Cover your strawberry patch with fleece or a cloche to warm up the ground
• Prune blackcurrant bushes

March

• It should be safe to plant parsnip seeds
• Start successional sowing of chard, beetroot and spinach
• Plant strawberries and raspberries
• If you've sown early lettuce, they probably need thinning now
• Lift all remaining leeks from last year to give you time to dig over the land for new planting
• Plant sunflower seeds in pots in your cold frame
• Cover rhubarb crowns to "force" them
• Cut back autumn raspberries to the ground
• Plant out onion sets
• Sow cauliflower, summer cabbage and sprouts for summer transplanting
• If warm enough, sow leeks in a seed bed or in pots
• Dig, dig, dig to get your plot ready for spring planting

April

• Plant early potatoes by the end of the first week and maincrop varieties by the end of the month
• Prune gooseberries and currants
• Sow early carrots
• Sow courgettes, pumpkins, squashes, tomatoes, sweetcorn and beans in pots in the cold frame
• Plant peas and mange-touts in pots in the cold frame
• Plant out sweet peas started off in the cold frame
• Weed, weed, weed before they take over

May

• Continue with successional sowing of most vegetables and salad crops
• Earth up your potatoes
• Tie in new shoots on autumn raspberries
• Apply mulch to discourage weeds and retain moisture
• Plant out seedlings from your cold frame once frost danger has passed, ie towards the end of the month. These include beans, courgettes and squashes
• Tie in sweet peas as they grow
• Watch out for pests on fruit
• Plant sweetcorn
• Hoe, hoe, hoe - especially bindweed after a wet spell

June

• Plant dahlias
• Start picking strawberries and gooseberries
• Continue to earth up potatoes - just in case
• Harvest asparagus
• Thin out seedlings of beetroot, carrot and lettuce
• Tomato plants can be planted out on your plot
• Pinch out the growing points of peas which have flowered
• It's your last chance for planting runner bean seeds
• Plant out leeks from your seed bed
• Strong runners on strawberry plants should be chosen for propagation
• Start digging up early potatoes (8-10 weeks after planting)
• Feed tomatoes regularly
• Sow early turnips for an autumn crop
• Net blackcurrant bushes
• Sow Florence fennel on the longest day
• Keep fruit bushes and trees well watered and weed-free
• Cut back strong herbs such as mint and chives before they flower

July

• Sow parsley for the winter
• Feed, feed, feed most vegetables
• Depending on the growing season, you can start lifting onions and shallots towards the month-end
• Keep cutting sweet peas
• Replace your strawberry bed if three years old or more
• Finish transplanting your leek seedlings
• It's your last chance to sow successional seeds of most things
• Clear any beds where crops are spent - you'll need them for leeks!
• Keep feeding

August

• Ask neighbouring plot-holders to water courgettes and tomatoes if you are going away.
• Courgettes should also be picked
• Cut Jerusalem artichoke stems to a foot from the ground
• Sow maincrop turnips
• Stop tomatoes growing when there are four trusses (unless bush variety)
• Hoe, hoe, hoe
• Start sowing successional rows of winter spinach
• Sow red cabbage in a sheltered spot for planting out in spring

September

• Dig up maincrop potatoes
• Sow winter salad
• Harvest sweetcorn as it ripens
• Pick early varieties of apple and pear
• Save and label seeds from annuals and perennials
• Plant spring cabbages
• Clean and store canes and other supports as they become free
• Take cuttings of currants and gooseberries
• Start lifting Jerusalem artichokes 

October

• Sow winter lettuce in your cold frame
• Putting a cloche over French beans still growing will extend their cropping season
• Cut back asparagus foliage, weed bed and apply a layer of manure or compost
• Prune gooseberries
• Sow spring bulbs
• Lift gladioli (if you do this)
• Remove any yellowing leaves from Brussels sprouts and stake the plants if necessary
• Sow early peas and broad beans for the spring
• Lift any remaining beetroot
• Harvest squashes and pumpkins
• Plant field-grown fruit trees

November

• Dig, dig, dig
• Start pulling leeks when needed
• Keep a close eye on winter lettuce, especially for slugs
• Ensure you have the seed catalogues you need
• Prune fruit bushes as appropriate for variety

December

• Start planning next year's crop rotation, reviewing what worked well and what didn't in the current year
• Lift parsnips when needed, ideally after frost
• Ho, ho, ho