🌱 What to sow in April?
Quick tip for success: Even this month, we prefer to sow in the garden and bring the seed trays indoors for the best germination results. This applies to both non-cold-hardy vegetables (e.g., cucumbers, green beans, corn) and cold-hardy vegetables (e.g., Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, leeks). For cold-hardy vegetables, we return the trays to the garden after germination so that they receive optimal light during the day.
Swiss chard → The perfect time to start sowing; they will provide you with food during late summer, autumn, and winter. Keep in mind that 2 plants can already be enough to feed 1-2 people during this period, provided they grow healthily.
Brussels sprouts → This is one of the trickier vegetables when it comes to the right sowing time. For outdoor cultivation, April is a good month to sow. Brussels sprouts require a long growing season to become large enough to be harvested in the winter. However, they do not always thrive in the warmth of a greenhouse. Therefore, we are sowing them this year in the first week of May, repotting them into larger pots in June, and planting them out at the end of July when they have reached a good size.
Rutabaga / Kohlrabi → If you like this plant, you can start sowing from mid-April for an autumn harvest. Keep in mind that kohlrabi grows better at cooler temperatures and can become woody and bitter in the summer heat. They are also susceptible to cabbage white butterfly caterpillars during this season. Therefore, consider placing the plants under an insect net that provides protection against cabbage whites. That is why we personally choose not to grow them, but instead eat celeriac, beets, and carrots as root vegetables in the summer and autumn, and sow turnips and radishes from August for consumption in late autumn and winter.
Cucumbers, beans & grains → If you haven't already done so, you can now sow cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins, green beans, and corn. They grow quickly, and it is still a great time to sow and plant them out in the garden from mid-April, provided the temperature allows it.
Leeks (summer, autumn, winter) → If you haven't already done so in March: this is our favorite winter crop. They provide you with food from winter until early spring. So choose good spots where they can establish themselves and continue to grow slowly throughout the summer. You can repot them twice before finally planting them out in the garden in May, June, or even July. They grow slowly, making them perfect for filling spaces where spring vegetables like lettuce or beets were previously harvested.
🌿 What to plant out in April?
Cold-resistant crops → All cold-resistant crops can be planted without problems. This applies to lettuce, beets, leeks, celery, celeriac, and spring onions.
Heat-loving crops can be gradually planted out → We start with varieties that can tolerate cooler nights, such as tomatoes and beans, from the first week of April. Eggplants, peppers, okra, cucumbers, and pumpkins follow gradually from the second week of April. From mid-April, we plan to plant out melons and watermelons. They require warmer night temperatures and warmer soil to grow well at higher light levels.
🛠️ Chores for this month
Hanging systems for tomatoes & cucumbers → Your tomatoes and cucumbers need weekly pruning starting from mid-May. That is why purchasing a suspension system like this is a good investment. We place these at the base of the plant and hang them from the rail system in the greenhouse, allowing us to train our cucumbers and tomatoes using the single-stem method. We highly recommend this and would love to demonstrate it in April in the Education Garden at MOES — feel free to stop by and take a look.
Support other climbing vegetables → Provide sturdy support where necessary, especially for peas and broad beans now that they are experiencing a growth spurt in the spring. Our trellises are already filling up with new pea shoots, and they need extra support.
Weed more often → As it gets warmer, weeds start to grow too. If you remove them early now, you will save yourself a lot of work in April/May.
Give more water → Start a regular and thorough watering routine now that the weather is getting drier. Pay extra attention to young plants that are still forming roots. Deep watering (at least 3–5 minutes per bed, once a week) is better for the health of your plants than more frequent superficial watering.
Protect young plants against aphids / other pests → Aphids will increase in number. Therefore, regularly check the young shoots of your plants and remove them by hand or rinse them away with water. The most important thing is to keep your plants as healthy as possible (with sufficient water and compost) so that they survive until May, when ladybugs eat the aphids and the problem diminishes on its own. Incidentally, we are already encountering various ladybugs in the garden, and we know that Wouter is currently releasing many natural predators.
We are already seeing a few cabbage white butterflies as well. This is not a problem if you have overwintered cabbage crops that are about to be harvested, but with young broccoli, kohlrabi, etc., it is good to be alert for caterpillar damage. If necessary, use insect netting or remove eggs by hand; these are yellowish and easy to spot.
🌱 Good luck and have fun in your vegetable garden this month!
