Well the sun has been shining and it has been a perfect time to get out there and do some gardening. April is a fantastic time to start sowing those vegetable seeds. Carrots/Parsnips and Beetroot are good to sow now, outside in the open ground or in containers if you have little space. Other seed to sow undercover, either in a greenhouse or indoors are tomatoes, sweetcorn, peppers, squash, pumpkin, runner beans, peas, green beans. A great thing to also try when sewing seeds outdoors with the vegetable plot are companion plants, like ‘Calendula officinalis’, ‘Tagetes tenuifolia'(Marigold), ‘Limnanthes douglasii’ (poached egg plant). All these flowers attract hoverflies that will eat those horrid aphids that suck all the sap out of your lovely young veg!
You can also plant out shallots, onions and garlic now, planted near the carrots will deter carrot root fly which attacks carrots, the smell on the onions confuses the pest! Potatoes can still be bought-just, as they are usually bought end of Jan/beg on Feb ready to ‘chit’, ie putting the seed potatoes in an empty egg box and letting them sprout undercover ready for planting out in May, after the first frosts.
The cherry blossom has been looking fantastic, some are losing their petals now, but they have looked truly marvellous against the beautiful blue sky we have been seeing of late, and now the tulips are looking fantasic, all those deep reds and burgundy’s, perfect!
Happy Gardening everybody from your local gardener Lucy from Lucy’s Gardens!
