Urban Gardener's Journal - December 2024 tips

Urban Gardening Tips for December

Dear Growers,

We took a small break before the new growing season, and here we are with December updates.

We are at the last month of the year - and what a year it has been. I have to say for new growers out there: This was not a typical year, and you are rocking it by not giving up urban growing. I truly hope you have experimented and enjoyed growing your own food, even with its challenges. Overall, my gardens are still full of vegetables to enjoy during Winter and early spring with No Dig method. So there are always opportunities to find what works well in your garden.

Now let’s get ready for another fantastic year by using this period as a preparation. Ensure you have fleece covers ready for cold temperatures and (stake) support systems in case of high wind.

1. What to Sow / Transplant this month?

For outdoors / indoors - last sowings & transplants!

• Transplant Garlic cloves: You can still transplant garlic cloves, preferably asap. Here is our video with tips on how to plant Garlic.

• Same goes for Broad Beans, sow asap and transplant in December if not freezing, recommended to be transplanted under cover. Sowing this year will give them a head start, allowing them to establish before winter and providing an early crop in spring. It also helps with reducing pests such as black flies before summer arrives. Alternatively, you can sow them in January to transplant in February, which will crop later

• For winter months, if you have grow lights, you can also sow indoors some old Broad Beans and Pea seeds to enjoy its fresh shoots. The same goes for Cress and microgreens to use in soups, salads, and sandwiches.

A photo of our garlic bulbs just before we separated to bulbs to transplant directly in the ground. Make sure to select the largest bulbs, and leave 10-15cm apart with 10cm depth.

2. What seeds to get ready for January?

If you have indoor growing space, with growth lights you can start getting ready for seeds that have a long seed-to-harvest period. You can sow the below indoors, and transplant them later:

• Aubergine: I like to start Aubergine seeds end of January / early February. Start seeds indoors in a warm location to give them a head start. Note that you will need to re-pot to larger containers, so make sure you have the space and time as they will be transplanted outdoors around late-May. They need not only frost-free but also true warmth to thrive.

• Peppers & Chillis: Sow indoors around end January / early February. These heat-loving plants benefit from an early start, allowing them to grow strong roots. Same as Aubergine, they need to be repotted until mid- to late-May, when they can be transplanted outdoors.

• Onions & Spring Onions: Sow indoors starting from mid- to end-January. These are frost-hardy compared to Aubergine and Peppers, and can be planted around mid-March outdoors. The reason for early sowing is that they have a long seed-to-harvest period, therefore if you have indoor space you can start sowing earlier to transplant in spring.

** Good news - Seed stock updates this month in our webshop **

We are currently updating our seed stocks during December, and will share a whole new range of organic and Demeter-certified seeds with you on our Backyard Goodness webshop!

3. Jobs to be Done

• Maintain your soil with compost: Autumn to Winter is a perfect time to maintain your soil in your garden beds. Adding 2-3cm compost to empty spots and underneath your summer veggies before transplanting the overwintering vegetables is a great way to introduce nutrition to your soil naturally. Check out our post here for tips on how to apply compost in your beds.

• De-weeding: This is a good time to be on top of your weeds before next spring. Regularly check and remove weeds to proactively manage your beds. Weeds = any seedling you have not consciously growing in that spot. Remove them small as this will save you time and effort later.

4. Harvests & Seasonal Chef tips

• Soup time with all veggies from garden: This Pak Choy, Carrot Ramen Noodle Soup is a comforting, flavorful bowl of ramen with crisp pak choy, tender carrots, and savory broth, perfect for cozy meals. Inspiration here.

• Chard Dolma: We have chard in abundance at this moment! If you would like to experiment, we suggest a delicious twist on traditional dolma, using vibrant chard leaves to wrap a savory filling of rice, herbs, and spices. Inspiration here.

• Beet glazed leeks: Growing Leeks? You can start harvesting the larger ones, when tender. We tried oven baking our leeks and combined with beet juice that is sweet and earthy, creating a perfect balance of flavors. Inspiration  here.

5. BYG Updates

As we close this year, we would also like to reflect on our next steps for next year.

We will most certainly continue our engagement and monthly newsletters with our growers as well as new seeds / products in our webshop, but may likely have less availabilities for coaching, at least during the first half of the year.

For our webshop, we would love to bring you a range of useful and price worthy products - not just things that are not necessary and create waste. Therefore, we will continue on experimenting next year to curate seeds and gardening products that we love & recommend. More news on this next year.

Until then, we wish you an amazing holiday period and hope you can replenish your gardens, your souls and energy to kick start new year together! We cannot wait to see what this new growing season will bring.

See you in our next newsletter in January 2025!

In case of any questions in the meanwhile, feel free to reach out.