This may not be as exciting as Sundays at Pantibar but there comes a time in a gay girl’s life when Sundays at Pantibar give way to Sundays in wellies, at least if you happen to live in the middle of nowhere, which I do. You don’t, however, have to live in the middle of nowhere to think about growing your own food. A window box in an apartment or a grow-bag on a balcony can be sufficient for loads of delicious vegetables and fruit. Oh and apparently I’m not the only lesbian who loves to grow stuff.

It might seem funny to read this right now, while the roads are still a bit icy and we can still see our breath hanging in the wintery morning air, but this is precisely the time of year we get to start planning our gardens.

If you’ve never “grown your own” but you have some space that suits, this year is a great time to start. Many people are now looking to grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs in an effort to eat better and to save some money too. Little is more satisfying than sitting down to a meal full of food you have grown yourself.

While January may seem early to think about planting, we’re already late (or very very early?) on one thing: garlic. Garlic traditionally is planted on the shortest day of the year and harvested on the longest. But don’t be discouraged, get out there now and plant a few cloves in well drained soil that gets some sun. It’s almost zero-maintenance and each clove can become a bulb with up to 20 cloves. I am told the cold is what makes it split into many cloves, which is why the garlic I first planted in May turned into useless, massive lumps and not nice, neat bunches of cloves.

Provided the ground has thawed (or you are using window boxes, planters, grow-bags or raised beds), January is also an excellent time to prepare and plan your planting areas.

What veg do you eat most of? Dedicate plenty of room to your favourites. Rather than spending next autumn begging friends and family to take away the burden of your excess rhubarb, plant the french beans you know you’ll enjoy. You’ll also discover that planting strategically can help beat the pests. For example, planting onions, garlic and basil around tomatoes can repel the worst tomato-attacking bugs, not to mention the convenience of having everything you need for an awesome pasta sauce all in the same place!

And what vegetables do you eat the most of?

Let me guess: potatoes? These are simple to grow, and the kind of crop that only costs you for seed your first year. After that, you can keep the tiny potatoes for next year’s seed. They’re best grown in a grow-bag or a very high raised bed, so you can keep earthing up as the plant grows taller, encouraging more potatoes. If you choose a blight-resistant variety, you’ll find they do all the hard work themselves. When the green leaves wilt and go dry, you know your spuds are ready to harvest. Planting and harvesting times will depend on the variety you choose.

French beans, runner beans and peas are all very easy to grow and seem to be quite hardy. All are very suitable for blanching and freezing as well, so you can set yourself up for next winter.

Onion seeds can be sown from late February on, and onion sets (essentially small onions that will become large onions) from March. I’m reliably informed that my red onion sets bolted (went to seed) because they’re red onions and that’s what they do. So I’ll try white onions this year.

There’s a lot to do in the garden in the next month or so, and if you do it now, it’ll make the busier spring a lot easier and more fun.

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