Gardening in December

Dearest December gardeners, it has been a bit of a Spring so far, hasn’t it? With barely three days that could be considered ‘warm’ at the time of writing, and none of them consecutive, our gardens have endured an especially dramatic transition to summer this year. The sudden cold snaps, the late gusty winds, and the leaf-smashing hail have caused many small garden disasters around these parts lately. If your patch is looking a little bit raggedy after all that, don’t be disillusioned with your green thumb – we do have time to rally. It’s set to be a warmer than average summer (again), so perhaps our veggies will now catch up.

As summer comes blazing in, and Christmas feasting is on our minds, our gardens start dishing up some favourites. If you’re lucky, you might be harvesting your first zucchini this month, and if you’re very lucky, you might have your first ripe tomato for Christmas lunch. And maybe some delicious basil. My favourite part of December gardening though, is the garlic harvest. In my microclimate, and for my chosen variety, this happens in early December. Garlic rust has reared its ugly head in my patch this year, and after much hair-pulling and frantic trawling of the literature, I learned that the spores actually come in on the wind. Its origin is not user-error as I feared, but simply fate. Garlic may also show a funny-looking issue called ‘witch’s broom’, where a whole bunch of out-of-place leaf tips start appearing at the top of the plant. Again, this issue can usually be blamed on the elements: erratic weather late in the growing season.

Presents might also be on your mind, so here is a hot tip: veggie seedlings make excellent gifts. Choose species that your friends and family probably love, that germinate quickly and can be sown in punnets or pots. Think sweetcorn, zucchini, cucumber, basil and beans. If you sow seeds of these veggies into little pots now, they are going to be ready for gifting in just a couple of weeks. Nailed it!

Finally, let’s take a quick look at tomato pruning. The technique I use in my market garden, and which I will describe here, is called the ‘double leader’ method, and is used on indeterminate varieties. There are many ways to manage the growth habits of our precious tomatoes, including letting them run wild and free, but I use this method in my specific context. It provides maximum production and minimum complication for me during harvest, both of which are priorities for a busy market gardener. 

To form a double leader, you trim all the leaves below the first flower when it appears, and pinch off all lateral shoots except for the one just below that first flower. This leaves you (get it) with two growing tips. These two tips will become the two main stems. I trellis both main stems (aka leaders) with twine, and continue pinching off all other laterals. As fruit starts ripening, I harvest starting from the lowest fruit, and remove all leaves below the lowest fruit. This allows better airflow and can reduce fungal disease spread. I end up with a Y shaped plant that fruits at a convenient height and enjoys good airflow.

Merry Christmas gardeners!