After a couple of months of dreaming of the coming spring, April has arrived, and unlike last year, the sun has come out to play for most of the month. Since my previous update, the fourth raised bed has been installed, and I have made a good start on clearing the area for the greenhouse. The garlic and onions are looking good.
This month has seen several sowings:
Vegetables and herbs
• Carrots, Nantes
• Carrots, Chantenay
• Beetroot, Boltardy
• Leek, Musselburgh
• Squash
• Purple sprouting broccoli
• Lettuce, lamb’s and mixed leaf
• Spinach
• Chard
• Spring onions
• Chives
• Thyme
• Sage
Flowers
• Foxgloves
• Lupins
• Marigolds
• Alyssum
• Calendula
• Stocks
• Delphiniums
The new raised bed currently has carrots and beetroots sown in half of it. I have been using the other half as a makeshift staging area for pots of dwarf beans, courgettes, and cucumbers while I wait for the warmth of May to arrive so I can plant them in their final spots. The bed has been covered with fleece to help protect them during the cold nights at the beginning of the month.
I have gone slightly overboard with the courgettes. Last year, due to the rain and issues with slugs and snails, I lost most of the courgettes; out of eight, only two survived. I may put some out the front, looking for good homes for them in the area, or we may find ourselves drowning in courgettes to eat this summer!
Kit has been taking an interest in the garden and has enjoyed getting his hands dirty as we sowed seeds and later potted plants up into bigger pots. He has also been enjoying digging in the “digging area” and has been helping shift soil with his tiny wheelbarrow. It has been a pleasure sharing my hobby with him. Though I hope his interest continues, I know this may change as he grows older.
Toms and Chilli Update
In February, we took a week off to visit Dartmouth. Sadly, some of the tomatoes and chillies did not survive the week. I think the heated mat did a good job of drying them out, and we came home to find we had lost a few. I potted the survivors up into bigger pots and put them on the windowsill, and they are still thriving. They’ve since been potted up again. The tomatoes will soon be going into the garden. I know we won’t get the biggest crops from them, but that’s fine for now until the greenhouse is in place.
May is hot on April’s heels. Jobs galore in the garden are only going to grow as we get the much-needed warmer days and evenings.