A Year in Gardening April

Gardening in April

"That God once loved a garden we learn in Holy writ.And seeing gardens in the Spring I well can credit it." -  Winifred Mary Letts

Here are some ideas for gardening in April:

·        It's the ideal time to sow cool-season crops( these are your half-hardy plants that can tolerate a little frost). Most half-hardy vegetable can be sown outside in April.  The wet April helps with some of the root crop germination (carrot, beet, parsnip, turnip, radish).

·        Put out your onion sets and seed potatoes

·        Put out seedlings: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower

·        Anytime in April-you will want to start your tomatoes, peppers, eggplants under grow lights, to be put out in the cold frames by Mid-May and then out in the garden when it is warm enough.

·        Late in April-you can plant squash, cucumbers, pumpkins and gourds under a cloche.  You can plant them under grow lights if you use peat pots and do not disturb the roots when you transplant them in late May-early June.  If you do not have grow lights then they need to be covered(cloched) until the weather is warm enough(soil temperatures of 70).

·        You can start your basil indoors and put it out in June or when the weather is warm enough-basil also likes the warm soil temperatures and does not handle frost at all.

Organic Fertilizers

·        Fish Emulsion(aka fish fertilizer)- it is high in water soluble nitrogen.

·        Manure Tea(made from fresh manure)- use one grocery size sack of manure to a 20 gallons of water.  Make sure you dilute it down before using on plants.

Manure Teas are used in the spring for heavy feeding.  You can apply once a week once the plants reach full growth.  Manure tea and liquid fertilizers are also useful to transplants to compensate for shock.  For transplants apply teas twice a week till plants are set and appear to flourish.