January - What We’re Doing in the Garden
January in Ireland brings a quieter, more dormant garden. We’ve been blessed with blue skies and proper icy, frosty days - cold underfoot, but bright and full of promise. We actually get excited when it’s frosty, as it helps the garlic split, strengthens plants and helps to kill any disease knocking about. Growth is slow, but as daylight stretches into the evenings, it is a clear reminder that the season is turning.
This is the month for preparing, not pushing. Planning, tidying, seed shopping, and easing gently back into sowing all have their place now. The keyword for January is restraint - do a little, but not too much. February will arrive soon enough.
Our approach is simple: get outside for a few hours each week, even if it’s just 30-minute bursts. Small jobs add up - sorting pots, clearing leaves, cleaning tools - and they make the year ahead feel manageable rather than overwhelming. It is how we manage to keep on top of gardening tasks each year.
If you’re keen on an early harvest, now is the time to get organised. Some hardy crops can be started, but anything that needs warmth and strong light is best left until early February. We’ve learned the hard way that sowing too early often means sowing twice. Some gardeners start tomatoes, aubergines and chillies in January, but our garden sits on a hillside and doesn’t get much morning sun, so we wait.
Our January List - what we’re doing
Sowing hardy crops such as broad beans, early peas, and sweet peas. We sow some in pots for planting out later outside, and some directly in the polytunnel for an early harvest.
Finish planting onions. We’re planting out some onions we’ve grown from organic, open-pollinated heritage seeds back in September. We have a couple of overwintering onions already sown in the polytunnel.
Lift remaining root crops, including carrots, parsnips, celeriac and Jerusalem artichokes. Frost improves flavour, but we aim to clear them by the end of January before the soil warms up and they begin to sprout.
Reflect on last year’s harvests. What thrived? What struggled? What tasted best? These notes quietly shape the coming season for us. We keep notes in a notebook, on our phones, and on pieces of paper. Now is the time to look back, reflect, and make decisions for the year ahead.
Review crop rotation. A quick look back helps avoid soil fatigue and disease issues later. It is also good to understand the soil's nutrient levels, so we know which areas might need some help with manure or organic fertilisers.
Check seed supplies. January is prime seed-ordering time. We take stock and make a clear list before temptation takes over, as 2026 seed catalogues from Irish Seed Savers and Brown Envelope Seeds land in the letterbox.
Clear and tidy beds. Remove leaves and debris, and leave beds clean and ready. We are pretty on top of this from November and December tasks, but there is always one or two that need clearing.
Mulch generously with well-rotted compost or manure. Cardboard works well too, especially in very wet gardens. As our garden is on a hill with lots of water running down, we are always trying to keep the soil protected.
Check the compost heap. It should be moist, not waterlogged. We will give some of the older bays a quick turn to help with aeration. FYI, Winter is a great time to build a compost bay if you don’t already have one.
Clean and sharpen tools. Hot soapy water, then linseed oil on wood and metal - a satisfying January job.
Prepare for early potatoes. We order organic, heritage seed potatoes from Fruit Hill Farm and will plant some early ones in large pots in the polytunnel in February. What we will do is chit some first on old egg cartons before sowing.
Tidy the polytunnel. Sort pots, clear old plants, and refresh paths with wood chip. If the weather is fine, we might start cleaning the cover, inside and out. A job we hate doing but always do it at least one a year as it never becomes a bigger task later on.
Watch for early signs of spring. Spring bulbs and perennials are already starting to make appearances - be ready to protect them from frost with a cloche or some straw.
Prepare the rhubarb and seakale patch. We grow four varieties and force some under terracotta pots for an early harvest. January is also a good time to divide crowns and add well-rotted manure. We will also add the covers to the seakale and some of the more established rhubarb crowns for forcing.
Prune fruit trees carefully. We do this slowly bit by bit into early March, observing each tree before cutting. Stone fruits like damson and peach are not pruned while dormant - we leave those until after harvest, when leaves are on the tree.
Seeds for the Season Ahead
You can buy open-pollinated, Irish-saved seeds from our online store or at the Honesty Farm Shop. We’re slowly adding new varieties as we work through germination testing, packing, and labelling.
We also buy seeds from Irish Seed Savers and Brown Envelope Seeds, both excellent sources of open-pollinated varieties suited to Irish conditions.
Let us know what’s still growing in your patch - tag us on Instagram or drop us a line.