April 2018 garden notes

Roots

Sowed small batch of beets and scorzerona in April;  a few beet seedlings appeared.  No sign of parsnip sown last month, but still hoping for a few.  Carrot seedlings up, sown in March (in containers).

Planted out onions, and the earlier sown leek seedlings which the chickens promptly scratched up;  I put plastic trays over the onion seedlings and they're still safe (ran out of trays).  Resowed the leek bed with seed directly, and did a quick tray indoors too.  I have a tray of already sprouted leeks still to plant out, luckily.

Garlic looking good;  a few shallots growing.  Harvested a couple of the biggest self-divided leeks (from 2016).  Still about a dozen or so of these (small) leeks to hopefully transplant and self-divide some more.

Peas and beans

Flowers on (winter sown) dwarf broad beans;  spring sown broad beans about the same height as dwarf:  20 cm or so and no flowers yet.

Maincrop peas growing strongly, now as tall as the broad beans.  Early and mange tout peas more sparse (probably slugs) but growing.  Planted out a small second batch of mange tout, just coming up at the end of the month.

Put a batch each of runner beans, French beans, and two kinds of peas to sprout for planting out in May.

Brassicas

Harvested all bolting winter cabbages;  remaining plants aren't forming heads yet but at least aren't bolting--will leave in place until one of these things happen.  Began harvesting spring cabbages grown in the cold frame (huge!).

Began harvesting purple sprouting broccoli at the end of April.  Cut down kale trying to flower, in hopes it will regrow--put the leaves to dry and the stems in a stew.  Harvested a small amount of self-sown mizuna.

Potted on Brussels sprouts seedlings at the end of the month.  Sowed a few rows of radish, turnip and kohlrabi.  Also sowed turnips in a separate bed which held chickens for much of the winter (lots of manure, though it's fairly shady so we'll see).  Some of these (and radishes) now sprouting.

Sowed two varieties of kale in trays outside, one of which has sprouted.

Miscellaneous

Began harvesting overwintered chard in earnest:  leaves to dry and chopped stems in the freezer.  New self-sown chard popping up all over the garden.

Couldn't keep up with the miners lettuce though I did my best!  Started to go to flower at the end of the month, though still harvesting it and a small amount of arugula (also flowering).

Sowed a few small containers with spring onions, sprouting by the end of the month.  Still harvesting a few overwinted spring onions (also in containers).  Sowed two trays of lettuce outdoors but none appeared yet by the end of the month.

Sowed a tray of cardboard tubes indoors with sweetcorn, achocha (a new-to-me cucumber relative), and tomatillo, all of which began sprouting.

Sowed a tray indoors of celery and a tray of regular and cherry tomatoes, and some pots of sweet and hot peppers, all sprouting up by the end of the month.

Fruit

Soft fruit flowering or forming flowers:  whitecurrant, blackcurrant, redcurrant, raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries, blueberries.

Tree fruit flowering:  almond, peach (though by the end of the month it looks like only one or two have set), plum, both pears, both cherries.  Both apples formed lots of buds and just starting to open at the end of the month.  Fig putting out new leaves and tiny fruits, though still small.  Young grape vines forming leaf buds.

Perennials and herbs

Sowed dill seed in containers but none appeared by the end of the month.  Self-sown summer savory coming up, however!  Harvested a small amount of chives and over-wintered parsley.  Thyme still growing, and mint finally came up at the end of April, but no sign of tarragon (fingers crossed).

Rhubarb growing well, but will not harvest till next year in the hopes it'll grow bigger (still a small plant).  Artichoke growth amazing, however!

Sorrel regrowing after much chicken grazing--they're now excluded from it.  No sign yet from asparagus.