Everything I Sow in April
April is the time when gardeners need to start being mathematicians and professional organizers, trying to find a place for all the seedlings that need to get into the trays on time. Plus, for the first time this year, you’ll be seeding both indoors and outdoors in succession. Sequential sowing is one of the real benefits of growing your own seeds: it means you can grow one or two varieties instead of needing space for an entire six-pack of seeds that you would buy from a nursery. Grow a mixed tray of vegetables or herbs now and start growing another one in a few weeks. This will also help reduce the stress on the square footage of your growing space. Even if you haven’t started growing seeds yet, there’s still time, so don’t be discouraged and remember: there’s no shame in just buying starting seeds or waiting for gifts.
Your summer stars: tomatoes, eggplants, peppers
Professionals start them in mid-to-late March, and while it’s not too late to start them now, this is your last call. Tomatoes and eggplants are more forgiving, but peppers need a long runway. At this stage, be brutal in thinning the seedlings and begin discarding them at any sign of distress or disease; you can’t afford to lose all your plants and the disease spreads quickly throughout the growing space.
Start sowing a row outside
Once the soil is ready for cultivation, it’s time to start sowing seeds in the ground. Schedule a calendar alert every two weeks and make sure you have peas, radishes, carrots, beets, green onions and lettuce in the ground. Remember that you are sowing in sequence, so you don’t have to plant a ton every week. Consider how many radishes you’ll actually eat during this time and purchase several different varieties. Carrots are a long-term investment, but planting them now, consistently, will allow you to use the rain that is likely still falling to make the process easier. germination indicators. I make short rows of these seeds so that I have enough space for them. You should see these peas coming up quickly, and planting every two weeks until April will ensure you have peas before the weather gets too hot for them.
Cucumbers, zucchini and melons are now easy to sow
The squash family is surprisingly easy to plant, making it an easy win this time of year. There are so many cucumbers to consider for pickling, slicing, and cucumbers, a small sour gherkin that has become quite popular. I have found that pickles benefit from being planted in a single row, so I plant a series of seeds in early April and then again in late April. This allows me to have one continuous harvest all summer long. Pumpkins don’t require the same consistency and are usually prolific on their own, but now is the time to plant them inside. The same applies to all other summer and winter squashes, as well as zucchini. Now that you’re planting seeds, it’s easy to dismiss the conservatism of just a few squash plants. Remember that one zucchini feeds a nation, and save yourself a lot of time by giving away giant zucchini in July. If you’re going to grow melons this year, now is the time to sow them, and I usually do this at the beginning of the month to get them as well established as possible before going into the ground in May or June.
Onions and leeks come in different flavors.
There are three types of onions to consider this time of year. First, they are storage onions that can be used all winter long if stored properly. They will be produced in sets that you can purchase at the nursery right now. You can grow them from seed, but you’re late this year, so grab a kit for a few bucks and share it with your friends. When placing, keep in mind that tomatoes go well with onions. These complete starters will now be buried in the ground and you’ll want to be sure to give each one enough space so don’t overcrowd them. There should be about six to eight inches between each bulb so they can really wash the bulb out over the summer. You also have scallions or green onions and these can be sown directly into the ground every few weeks to make them easy to grow in the garden. The last product is leeks, which have a very long and extended growing season, but are really useful as a winter and fall crop. Leeks are easy to grow from seed, so you need to start growing them very early, in April. You don’t grow leeks one per cell, they can be grown together in a bunch in a four-inch pot or on whatever tray you have. Once they reach six inches tall, start cutting them back to three inches and let them grow back. When they are ready to plant, you will carefully separate them and plant them as deep as possible outside.
It’s time for all the colors
Although it is too late for snapdragons, now is the time to start growing marigolds, nasturtiums and sweet alyssum. I mention these three together specifically because they are the building blocks of your garden pest control program and you will want them everywhere, so seed them inside now. Nasturtium and sweet alyssum can be placed almost anywhere. At this point I begin planting the first sequence of all my annual flowers except sunflowers. These are zinnia, rootstock, poet’s flower, foxglove, delphinium, echinacea, cosmos, scabiosa, yarrow, calendula, bedspread flower, sage, agastache and whatever you have in mind. If you are doing the second sequence, you will start it in the third week of April.
Growing Herbs from Seeds is a Way to Save Money
Growing herbs from seed is one of the best ways to save money since they are expensive to start at a nursery and expensive to buy at the grocery store. Most seeds are easy too. Make sure the cilantro, basil and dill are already in the seed trays. Remember that dill is a pest repellent, so grow more of it than you need, along with marigolds and sweet alyssum. Dill, cilantro and parsley are shoots, so you should sow them in succession in mid-April. Consider this a good time to think about herbs you may not have had before, such as chamomile, lemongrass, lemon verbena, and garlic.