Easter is fast approaching and the days are longer and starting to get warmer, so it’s time to really get going on your plot. April is a lean month for harvesting but it is a good month to get ahead by sowing seeds indoors or outside in a cold frame. One of the secrets of a successful vegetable gardener is to plant seeds at the right time, if you miss that window of opportunity your veg will be smaller and fewer than they would be if you planted them at the right time.
Harvest the first asparagus of the year along with spring cabbages and cauliflowers, sprouting broccoli and any remaining leeks and kale
Sow outdoors if the soil is warm enough
Plant second early and main crop potatoes and the last of your onion sets
Earth up first early potatoes – keep doing it to avoid frost damage
Prepare seed beds by weeding thoroughly and raking over
Prune cherry and plum trees
Carrots (early carrots), beetroots – most root crops can now be sown outdoors
Celery, chicory, and endive – sow these indoors to ensure germination, harden off next month and plant out in June
Sow courgettes, pumpkins, squashes, tomatoes, sweetcorn and beans in pots in the cold frame/ sow indoors ready for planting out next month
French and runner beans – sow a few seeds in pots and keep in a heated greenhouse
Leaf vegetables – spinach, Swiss chard can all be sown outdoors now
Leeks and Onions – sow leeks outdoors now
Sweetcorn – has a long growing season so it’s worth getting a crop off to an early start by sowing seeds in pots indoors
Plant – asparagus crowns, globe artichokes, herbs, peas and broad beans, potatoes, lettuce and other salad leaves
Prune gooseberries and currants
Plant peas and mange-touts in pots in the cold frame
Plant out sweet peas started off in the cold frame
Weed, weed, weed before they take over
