Gardening in April and May

Traditionally April was seen as part of the ‘Hungry Gap' - the period when winter crops such as leeks, roots and some brassicas are beginning to run out but new crops haven't yet made a big impact. The actual period is somewhat vague - it varies according to how far north you are, what the weather is like each year and also what varieties of veg you're growing. Mid March to mid May is a reasonable average guesstimate though. In times of yore when folk relied totally on what they could grow themselves, this period was a low point in the harvesting year when the store cupboards and preserves came to the fore.

It might seem odd, therefore, that you need to start thinking now about what crops you can be sowing to get you through next year's Hungry Gap. But some of the late winter favourites have a long growing season over the summer so we need to be getting the seed packs out now.

Leeks, for example, are great over-wintering crops, and some folk might still have a few lurking about in last year's bed. Leek and potato soup is a hearty winter favourite with us, so they're definitely on our spring sowing schedule. Leeks are one of the hardiest members of the onion family and will happily stand outside through the worst of the winter weather. You've got a choice with leeks: you can either prepare the area you want them to grow in now and sow directly, or sow in seed trays or seed beds and then transplant. We usually do the latter, mostly because we're too busy preparing ground for other crops so having something you can delay for a while before getting into the soil is useful. Some years we've sown leeks really early, but we've eventually settled on late March to mid April as a good time - the warmer weather means faster growth so you'll still have decent sized plants ready by early summer to transplant into their final positions. You've definitely got to get them sown by mid May though, otherwise you'll risk ending up with thin weedy little leeks next winter.

The other half of our leek and potato soup is the potato, and you may have already got them in the ground from mid-March onwards (see the last issue for details). During April and May the potatoes should start to pop up above ground and soon start to bush up. To maximise yields it's a good idea to ‘earth up' the rows - this simply means scraping a little of the soil from either side of the row up over the plants. Don't worry - they'll soon pop back out into the sunlight but the earthing up helps increase the depth of soil they are growing in and reduces the chance of sunlight coming into contact with tubers (which can turn them green and poisonous). You only need to do this once a month or so - late April and again in late May is fine.

April and May are when sowing really gets under way, both outside and indoors. The list of veggies that you can be sowing now is pretty long: globe artichokes, broad beans, French beans (starting off indoors in April, or outdoors by mid May), spinach beet, beetroot, sprouting broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts (by late April at the latest), carrots, cauliflower, onions (both salad and normal bulbing types, though the latter really need to be in late April), pak choi (starting in May), parsley, parsnips, peas, peppers (indoors by the end of April), spinach, squash, swede, sweetcorn (sown indoors ready for transplanting), Swiss chard and turnip!

Phew!

This means that you'll soon find that most horizontal surfaces in your greenhouse, conservatory, cold frames and house will be filling up with pots and seed trays of seedlings growing on. However, don't sow all your seed for a particular crop in one go - it pays to sow at regular intervals during the available sowing season. This not only means that you'll have staggered crops, but also means that you'll potentially be able to fit more crops into your protected seedling growing spaces - as seedlings get older they can move from propagators to window sills, then out to cold frames and greenhouses and finally into the ground.

Don't be put off though if all you have is a windowsill and a flat balcony - you can still be growing useful crops now. I live in a first floor flat, and I tend to grow herbs and salad leaves there, as they are the sort of crops that it is nice to have at hand ready to snip a few leaves off to go into the pot or for adding to a sandwich. You can be joining in with the sowing frenzy as well - herbs such as parsley, basil, coriander, chives, marjoram and oregano can be sown in pots now, as can lettuce, rocket, mustard and cress. In fact you can grow quite a few veggies from the list above if you have the right containers and/or varieties. For example peas can be grown in containers and used as salad greens (the tips of the growing shoots are lovely!) which also helps to keep them compact. Carrots can be grown in deep tubs, and you can get varieties that are naturally short and stubby rather than long and thin. Even spuds can be grown in buckets!

So whilst the Hungry Gap means that you might be scrabbling around for things to harvest now, what is guaranteed is that April and May is when the action out in the garden really starts to ramp up. Spring has sprung!

Jim'll

Seedlings photo (c) Salena Walker 2010

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