What to
do on the allotment in April
A traditional old saying, one my mother was
always fond of quoting – March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. I
think this year must be an exception. Let’s hope that April will be more
encouraging. Although our weather forecasters are predicting that this
unseasonally cold weather will last until, at least, the end off April.
I have started lots of seeds off in my
propagator and had been hoping to move them to my poly-tunnel by the end of
March. These young seedlings now really do need more light than I can provide
for them at home. I trialled a couple of trays which I felt I could ‘lose’ if
they didn’t survive, covering them carefully with bubble wrap inside my
poly-tunnel. However, I see today that the young plants have collapsed - well, it was
worth a shot.
It’s difficult to know what advice to give on
sowing and growing on. Although it is sunny..ish during the day, there is still
a heavy frost at night. The ground although quite encouragingly friable on the surface
where it has previously been dug [making it almost too dry for germinating
seeds] is still very wet and heavy underneath. Nonetheless, although water
butts and puddles are frozen each morning, the ground isn’t frozen and I’m
taking a risk with planting some seeds. I may have to re-sow later.
For plants like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers
and chillies, there is little option but to sow the seeds and nurture them as
best as possible as they do need a long growing season for the fruits to ripen
properly.
·
Maintenance around the plot
– keep established plants healthy and pest free
– keep the plot
tidy
- cut grass on paths, even in the very cold weather, the grass is growing!
- weeding [ do keep on the case of those difficult perennial weeds like dandelions, docks, cinquefoil, couch grass and, increasingly on our plots, horsetail
- taking care of stored produce
– tidy
fruit cages
- paint wood preservative on sheds, raised beds, etc
– clear and compost old plants or those which have finished producing.
·
Preparation and planning for the
coming season
– looking after perennial plants,
- re-digging beds ready for
planting out, dig in compost and/or well rotted manure,
- preparing seed beds,
top–up raised beds with fresh compost or soil.
·
Sowing and planting
what can be sown or planted now:
·
– in a
propagator – aubergines, courgettes, cucumbers, peppers and chillies, pumpkin
and squash, tomatoes. Herbs - basil;
·
- under
cover [in green house or ploy-tunnel] – brassicas (Brussels sprouts,
broccoli/calabrese, winter cauliflower), celery, celeriac, lettuce, peppers and
chillies, pumpkin and squash, rocket, runner beans, spring onions. Herbs – basil,
chervil, chives, rosemary, savoury, thyme.
·
– outdoors –
[do wait a couple of weeks for the ground to be less cold] – broad beans, beetroot,
brassicas [broccoli, Brussels sprouts, summer cabbage, winter cabbage],
carrots, summer cauliflower, garlic, kale, leeks, lettuce, onions, shallots, parsnips,
potatoes, early peas, radish, rocket, spinach and swiss chard, spring onions, turnips.
·
As bare root plants can only be safely
transplanted when they are dormant, it is now probably too late in the season
except in colder parts of the country where the plants have not yet started
growing. If you are buying plants in pots to plant out on your allotment or in
your garden, while they can be transplanted at any time, it is best to wait
until the ground is less cold.
·
Harvesting – many of these
vegetables, which would normally become available during April, may be some
weeks later this year.
·
Fresh from the plot, greenhouse or poly-tunnel –
early varieties of asparagus, spinach, some types of broccoli, spring
cabbage/spring greens, Swiss chard, winter cabbage, winter cauliflower, kale, early
lettuce, salad onions, radishes, sorrel, rhubarb, oregano, rosemary,
bay-leaves.
Don't forget the birds who desperately need food and drinking water at this time of year and especially in the very cold weather.
