The dark days and cold that December brings mean what can be planted at this time of year is limited compared to every other month of the year. But there is still always something that can be sown.
Below is a list of ideas of what to sow now, and underneath the list is the collection of seeds mentioned.
Vegetables Under Protection
December normally brings some frosty days with it. The following seeds can be planted under protection in a greenhouse, polytunnel, cold frame etc. something where the frost won't get into, and grown for their baby leaves. These are Spinach, Lettuce, Rocket, Rainbow Chard, Pak Choi, Mustard, Chicory, Cress, Oriental Salad Mix.
Growth will be a lot slower this time of year due to lower temperatures and the lower amount of sunlight. If you really like any of these varieties, plant a little more than you usually would to make up for the slower growth. Providing you have the space.
Lambs Lettuce (Corn Salad) is a great choice at this time of year due to its tolerance of cold.
Broad Bean seeds can also be planted at this time of year for an early harvest next year. Superaquadulce is a good hardy variety for doing this.
Raising Annual & Perennial Flowers Under Cover
If you want some strong plants with early flowers next year, some can be started now under protection. Sow these seeds in pots or trays. To get them to germinate quickly, leave them inside at room temperature.
That way they will germinate quickly. Once they germinate and develop two sets of leaves (cotyledon leaves and first true leaves) they can be kept in the greenhouse over Winter, or under whatever type of outdoor protection you can provide. Maybe there’s a sheltered corner in your garden that doesn’t get hit with frost.
These plants will grow slowly over Winter and be ready to plant out in Spring. They will be strong and vigorous plants that will produce early flowers next year. The following varieties are good choices for this - Echinacea, Pansy, Sweet Pea, Herb Robert Geranium, Doubtful Knights Spur, Corncockle, Lupin, Aquilegia, Cornflowers, Delphinium, Love-In-a-Mist, Pot Marigold, Bellflower, Clematis, Foxglove, Lavender, Mallow, Scabiosa.
Herbs On The Window Sill Or Greenhouse
Some herbs can be grown inside on your window sill in small pots. Good choices for this are Parsley, Coriander, Lemon Balm, Dill and Chives. You can try Basil too, but it generally likes a little more heat. A south facing window that gets the most amount of sunlight is best. Just make sure to take the plants away from the window at night time if frost is due.
Grow Microgreens
Microgreens are great to grow at this time of the year. If you’re not familiar with what they are, they’re baby plants usually only grown for 1 to 3 weeks after their seeds have germinated. Then they are harvested and eaten. They can be grown indoors all year around on your window sill. If you haven’t done it before, growing pea shoots is very easy and also very rewarding as you will get a good harvest from them and they taste great. You can see our collection of microgreen seeds here. Or you can see in detail how pea shoot microgreens are grown here.
A microgreens growing kit that inludes 6 different seed varieties and all the materials needed for growing can be found here.
Sprouting
Sprouting can be done all year round. If you're not familiar with it, sprouting seed is where you grow sprouts from seed in a jar. It is very simple to do, and all you need is seeds, a jar with a straining lid and water.
All you do is put a couple of spoonfuls of sprouting seed in a glass jar. Steep the seed for a few hours and then strain it and rinse it. After this you just keep rinsing and straining the seed each day until the sprouts are ready. some can be ready in as little as 3 to 4 days.
They taste great and the best thing about sprouts is that they are full of all the nutrients that the seed contained to make germination happen, making them very nutritious.
Our list of sprouting seed can be found here and if you need a sprouting jar, they can be found here.
The seeds mentioned above are in the below collection.
