April

Those with undercover areas such as cold frames or greenhouses can get busy sowing some warm weather crops. The risk of frost remains but covered plants should be sufficiently protected from all but the hardest frosts. Unfortunately the warmer weather also brings weeds that will be popping up in your newly prepared beds.

What to harvest?

• Spring Onions

• Salad Leaves

• Spring Cabbages

• Spinach

• Leeks

• Rhubarb

• Asparagus

• Lettuces

• Spring Cauliflowers

• Swiss Chard

• Sprouting Broccoli

• Corn Salad

What to sow indoors?

• Aubergines

• Cauliflower

• Cabbages

• Celeriac

• Tomatoes

• Celery

• Chillies/Peppers

• Courgettes

• Cucumbers

• Sweetcorn

• Endive

• Florence Fennel

• French Beans

• Gherkins

• Sprouting Broccoli

• Kale

• Kohl Rabi

• Marrows

• Pumpkins/Squashes

• Runner Beans

What to sow/plant outside?

• Beetroot

• Oriental Leaves

• Broad Beans

• Brussels Sprouts

• Cabbages

• Radishes

• Spinach

• Corn Salad

• Rocket

• Carrots

• Calabrese

• Cauliflowers

• Spring Onions

• Sprouting Broccoli

• Cucumbers

• Salad Leaves

• Kohl Rabi

• Land Cress

• Leeks

• Swiss Chard

• Peas

• Lettuces

• Turnips

• Onions

• Parsnips

Jobs

Prepare Seedbeds

March brings a surprising list of jobs, direct sowing of hardier seeds, plenty of indoor sowing, final pruning, and soil preparation. These aren't bad things, after all this is what we've waited all winter for. The important thing to remember is being organised now will pay back double later in the year, plants sown earlier will be larger healthier plants producing more with their extra time.

Keep on top of seed beds ensuring weeds aren't getting a foothold in your freshly prepared soil, and break up any chunks of hard soil formed by dryer weather. Its also a good time to dig in some fertiliser such as fish blood and bone.

Prick Out Seedlings

With any luck your previously sown seeds will be large enough for pricking out and potting on. A key indicator is a combination of true leaves forming and roots appearing at the bottom of cell modules. Compost often only has enough nutrients to support a plant at this stage for two weeks. Regular potting on plants ensure a fresh source of food.

Potatoes

Chitting time has passed and its time to get potatoes in the ground, don't worry if you haven't chitted, still plant them out but be prepared for a longer growing season. Early potatoes might even require earthing up, earthing up is adding soil around the potato plant step ensuring only the top growth is exposed to sunlight.

Protect Plants With Fleece

Even the hardiest of seeds sown at this time of the year would welcome some fleece while germinating and getting established. As an added bonus fleece will protect sprouting seedlings from hungry birds,

Remove Rhubarb Cloches

Hopefully rhubarb will have grown enough to allow a first harvest, if it hasn't there's still plenty of growing time left.

Prune Fruit Bushes

Now is the last good time to prune fruit bushes such as Raspberries, Blackcurrants, Gooseberries, Currents, and Blueberries. Remember pruning Raspberries requires two different techniques for Autumn and Summer varieties.

Check out our winter pruning guide here.