January.  What can I say about January?  It’s cold, damp and my garden is a mess.

Although, January can mean something more.  A new year, a time to start something new, plan the next 12 months and almost taste the salads, roots and berries I will pull, dig and pluck from my garden.

This year I need to get more from my garden; knowledge, produce and a return on investment.  Its time to make the garden pay it’s way.  There is a piece of land adjoining my property I really want to get my hands on which will significantly increase my growing space and will take me from producing for my own kitchen to growing enough to generate some income.  The bidding is in the hands of the solicitors now and all I can do is wait.

I have to learn to grow constantly good seasonal produce; extend the growing seasons and how to add value to what I grow.  I will need to locate buyers; figure out how to transport and turn a profit.  However, this will take time and I will build my business by starting small, but thinking big.

To start me along this route I have given myself a goal to learn how to grow consistent high quality produce using organic methods for as long as possible.  I have invested in a small greenhouse (6×8) conduct my learning and experimenting.  I can tell you now that it is not the best idea to work with metal in such cold weather but a few hours each weekend is seeing it slowly grow and I hope to have it in place by the end of the month.  I have also started on my January tasks to make sure I am ready for when the weather improves and the days start to get longer.

Understanding my soil is the next step; knowing what my soil is good at growing and what I need to do to extend the range of plants I can grow.

So, an exciting year awaits!