Spring has sprung! The sun is (hopefully) shining and the soil is warming up. It’s a real pleasure to be in the food garden in April. Let’s grow loads of food!!!
Here’s a list of jobs to be thinking about for the food garden in April:
- Cover seed beds (cloches, fleece, plastic) to warm up the soil before sowing
- Sow seeds undercover (beans, sweetcorn, sweet peppers, chilli peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, pumpkin, courgette, squash, celery, salads, basil, chives, parsley, dill, chervil, coriander, fennel, mint, oregano, tarragon, rosemary, thyme, sorrel)
- Pot up seedlings when they develop their true leaves
- Sow seeds outdoors (early and maincrop potatoes, beetroot, perpetual spinach, spinach, kale, cabbage, broccoli, kohl rabi, carrots, chard, peas, radish, leeks, broad beans, cauliflower, lettuce, rocket, parsnips, turnips, swede, Brussels sprouts)
- Plant shallots, onion sets, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke tubers, asparagus crowns, strawberries, young fruit trees and bushes
- Protect new shoots from slugs and snails and use fleece to protect from frost
- Net brassicas to protect from pigeons
- Place collars around the stems of brassicas to deter cabbage root fly
- Protect fruit blossom from frost by covering them with fleece at night, but make sure insects can access the flowers or hand pollinate them
- Hoe and mulch weeds to keep them under control early
- Feed your compost heap with all appropriate waste materials. Aim for an equal mix of nitrogen-rich green materials and carbon-rich brown materials. Turn every one or two weeks. Check to see if you have any compost that is ready to use
- Divide clumps of hardy herbs
- Mulch fruit trees, nut trees, raspberries, blueberries, and perennials (such as asparagus, rhubarb and artichokes). Don’t mulch up too high
- Ensure plants are well watered in prolonged dry periods.
- Watch out for early signs of any pests and diseases and treat them before they get out of control
- Harvest purple sprouting broccoli, forced rhubarb, spring onion, walking onions, spring cabbage, asparagus, radish, chard, leeks, kale, sorrel, wild garlic, three cornered leek
- Enjoy edible weeds now when they are at their most tender