After a number of wintery, rainy days, the ground is probably soaking wet. It isn’t wise to start working in the garden now. Working in wet soil compacts the structure of the soil. Even in case of frost, there is little to do in the vegetable garden, simply because the soil is much too hard to do anything with. December is, in short, one of the quietest vegetable garden months.
Yet there are a few jobs that can be picked up in December. The tools can be maintained. In the winter months, thoroughly clean your various pruning tools and put them in oil. This is also the time to sharpen your cutters, hoe, and shovel. This way the tool will be good as new next season!
If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse in the garden, it will probably be largely empty at the moment. This makes it much easier to clean than a greenhouse full of plants! Clean windows provide more light, and more light means a better harvest. The plants that are here in spring will benefit from beautiful, clean windows.
Take advantage of the quiet garden to plan for the busy months with a cultivation plan. This describes which vegetables will be placed where. It is very important the different plant families rotate every year. In other words, where last season the cabbage varieties stood, next year a different kind of plant should inhabit its space, for example a leaf vegetable. Creating a cultivation plan is quite complicated, so this keeps many vegetable gardeners busy on winter evenings. A good book or a nice website can help you make a cultivation plan.
After making the cultivation plan, you can also order seeds. Although the local garden center often has a nice assortment, the choice on the internet is much larger. Some of the web shops have a fairly long delivery time, so it is wise to find out in December or January which seeds you need in the coming season. In addition to seeds, seed potatoes and onion sets can be ordered.
Although there is hardly anything to sprout in the vegetable garden in December, there is a bit of possibility for a windowsill. Sow cress or other sprouts, so that you also have fresh vegetables during the dark winter weekends. Choose a southern facing window for the most light.
