April Gardening: What to sow!
Things growing in the garden right now:
I planted garlic bulbs and (autumn planting) red onion sets in October and they are looking promising for a June harvest!
I sowed some broad beans outdoors in November but they have been battered by the weather, a bit! Some have survived but I sowed a few more in the greenhouse in January and February and planted these out around the spring equinox. In the greenhouse, my leeks, cauliflower, cabbage and radish seeds are growing nicely but my peas failed, so I had to resow these. I’ve already planted out the radishes as these are a fast crop but unfortunately the pigeons got them before me! So am looking forward to planting out the next lot and cover these with netting a bit better!
I previously sowed tomato, aubergine and bell peppers on my sunny windowsill inside my home in a heated propagator. These have now sprouted and some of the tomatoes have already been pricked out and repotted. I am about to repot the bell peppers and aubergines.
My overwintered rocket leaves were in the greenhouse and I planted them out around the spring equinox. They look well and I am looking forward to seeing them grow.
My early potatoes went in at the end of March (4 rows of 5-6 seed potatoes) so I can expect my first potato crop 10-12 weeks from planting: mid June!
The first stalks of rhubarb went, along with eggs from my hens, into a rhubarb cake. I used gluten-free flour and vegan butter and oat milk to make it dairy-free as well. It was a great way to celebrate the spring equinox and I make it without fail every year - it is easy, as I just chuck all the ingredients into the bread maker.
Seeds I am sowing in April:
These are all sown in trays or module trays in the greenhouse and then planted out in May:
Beetroot
Salad Leaves
Radish
Spinach
Kale
I know what you might be thinking: “some of these are the same as what you said you planted last month, so what happened?” Well, I like to succession sow, which basically means I sow the same crop about every 4-6 weeks to have a continual supply. For example, by the time I have eaten my first lot of radishes, there will be more ready for me to eat and another lot about to be planted out that will be ready 4 weeks later!
These can be sown in a propagator indoors to be planted out in late May, early June:
Courgette
Butternut Squash
Pumpkin
Things you can still sow if you missed them in March:
Tomato
They need to be sown indoors on a bright and warm windowsill, as they will struggle in a greenhouse. However they can be sown in a propagator in a warm greenhouse if you run out of windowsill space.
