In the first days of January, most Brits will be seeing some frost in our gardens, and a few will even have a sprinkling of snow on the ground. 

But despite this, now could be the prefect time to start sowing seeds for some key vegetables, according to garden expert Benedict Vanheems.

On his GrowVeg YouTube channel, Benedict explains that there are six important vegetables that you could sow right now and give your vegetable garden the best start in 2026.

Among the first vegetables Benedict plants every year are onions. While many gardeners choose to grow onions from “sets,” or small bulbs, Benedict says it’s generally better to start your onions off from seed as that reduces the risk of them “bolting,” or coming into flower prematurely.

He adds: “Also, growing from seeds is a little bit cheaper.”

Why plant early?

Benedict initially plants his onions in seed trays – first checking the trays thoroughly for slugs and other pests if they’ve been stored in a cold, damp shed since last year. After part-filling the trays with plain all-purpose compost, Benedict recommends finishing off with a little sieved compost which will give your seedlings the best start in life.

He says: “You can sow onions at any time from mid-winter to early spring, but getting an early start like this, means in theory, we should get a slightly earlier harvest.

“What that means is that the ground will be freed up that little bit sooner so that we can then plant some sort of follow-on crop that will grow from the second half of summer and on into autumn and winter.”

Once your seeds are planted, with a thin covering of covering of compost over the top, you should water them thoroughly, but gently – using a spray mister or a watering-can with a very fine rose.

Keep the seedlings cosy

To encourage initial germination, it’s a good idea to bring the seedlings into your house, to give them a little warmth in these frosty first weeks of the year.

It’s a similar procedure with chilli peppers, Benedict says. But you should keep them even warmer than your onions: “Chili peppers like it nice and warm at all stages of their life,” he explains. “They like it nice and toasty to germinate. Ideally, a minimum of around 75 Fahrenheit or 24 Celsius.”

You should also make sure that their pots are well-drained, adding some coir or coconut fibre to help wick the moisture away. Or, off you’re using Perlite to encourage good drainage, consider digging out an old face-mask for the covid years before mixing the substance into your compost, as Perlite dust can be quite irritating to the throat and lungs.

Placing the seedlings in a mini-propagator with a plastic cover will help keep the humidity up around them, and if you have a heat mat, that will also serve to maintain the warm ambient temperatures chillis love.

If you don’t have a propagator or a heat mat, securing a clear plastic bag over the with with an elastic band and placing it near a warm boiler of onto a nice sunny window-sill will work almost as well.

At this time of year, when the days are at their shortest, it’s a good idea to invest in some grow lights to give your seedlings all the “daylight” they need to thrive – about 12 hours a day is idea. If you don’t have any, and especially if you live in the more northerly part of the country, it might be better to delay planting this seeds for a month or so.

Cauliflower is another great choice for early sowing. Planting seeds now, in much the same way that you planted your onions: “Cauliflowers, like other cabbage family plants,  really don’t need much heat to germinate,” Benedict says, but it’s still a good idea to bring them indoors until you see the first shoots appear.

Why winter planting is foolproof

Cabbages and leeks can also be planted around now, Benedict adds.  A low-budget alternative to a greenhouse or cold frame is an everyday milk jug. Punch some holes in the jug for drainage – an awl or small screwdriver is ideal for this purpose – and cut it at around the half-way point, not letting your knife go quite all the way through but leaving a “hinge” of plastic so that it’s easy to seal your jug again with duct tape when you’re done.

Garlic will also do well if planted around this time of year, although ideally you will have got your seeds started off before Christmas: “If I’m honest I’m a little bit behind with my garlic,” he admits. 

“I usually try to get it in by the end of autumn,  but mid-winter is a really good time as well, because much of the cold period is still to come, and garlic does need a chilling spell.” 

But even though he may have made a slight mistake with the timing of his garlic, Benedict says that nature if forgiving enough to allow for some slightly wayward scheduling. 

“The beauty about winter sowing is that it’s not very technical,” Benedict says. “These seeds will come up in their  own time, when they’re good and ready. 

“That may not be for a week, two weeks,  or it may not be for several weeks, but they will know and they’ll just come up.”