Grow Your Own in April

In my "Grow Your Own month-by-month" series I will share with you a handy to do list, a list of fruits and vegetables you can harvest and a list of fruits and vegetables you can plant for that specific month.

What to do in your Kitchen Garden in April

April is where the growing season really starts to hot up, not least because the weather has turned and the days are warmer now! By mid/late April it will even be warm enough to start planting outside! Isn't that exciting?!

Jobs list

It's time to start planning where you are going to plant. I use a garden planner but a pencil and a piece of paper will do just fine.
Prepare your vegetable beds. Pull out weeds. cover with compost and warm up the soil ready to plant.
Clean everything, from greenhouses to pots - you'll thank me once you're ready to plant and your garden or allotment looks spotless.
Build supports for any climbing vegetables or flowers that you plan to plant.

Sow now

You can now begin sowing a wide range of vegetables including beetroot, carrots, parsnips, lettuce, spinach, spring onions, kohl rabi, radish, turnips, peas, and swish chard.

On a prepared seed bed sow the seed leeks and summer cabbage. Plant out celeriac grown on earlier and keep the plants well watered all through the summer.

Sow under glass, in pots and trays filled with fresh seed compost, the seeds of runner beans, sweet corn, courgettes, pumpkins, squashes, outdoor/ridge cucumber.

Plant now

You will probably want to hold off planting must summer fruit and veg but there are still a few veggies you can plant now. They are potatoes, onions and shallots. Globe and Jerusalem artichokes can also be planted out in April.

Some hardy herbs can also be planted now like chives, mint, thyme, marjoram, oregano.