The clients that I was at both these mornings only need me for a half day at this time of year. Give it until next month and I’ll be back to full days. But that means I have the afternoons to myself. So after popping along to our local independent garden centre to buy 6 more bags of compost and running a few other errands, I was then home in time for lunch and the entire afternoon was spent in my garden doing all sorts.

I’ve now sown all my April seeds, which is a bit unheard of for me, but I’m going away for a week at the beginning of May so I need to make sure that my little plants are big enough to cope without their mummy. I’ll leave strict instructions for the rest of the family as to how to look after them properly. Fingers crosses they’ll be ok. It’s like leaving your new born baby with someone who’s not used to children, or am I over worrying? I might ask the family if I can FaceTime my seedlings and chickens while I’m away then they don’t think I’ve abandoned them.

But back to all the April seeds, there are a lot of them, and I’ve grouped them together so here goes……

We’ll start with some herbs. These need to be sown in exactly the same way. The Herbs I’ve sow in this week are: Coriander “Leisure” and “Lemon“, Basil “Genovese”, Oregano and Sage.

The video below I filmed in January a few years back, but the same applies now. I hope you find it helpful….

Now let’s move onto a few more brassicas. There are so many different ones to choose from. The brassicas that I sowed last month I’ve now pricked out and put in individual pots. They’re very easy to prick out. Whichever brassicas you have they all need to be pricked out in the same way….

But these are the ones I’m sowing this month: Wok Broc “Kichi”, Kale “Dwarf Green Curled“, and Cauliflowers “Di Sicilia Violetto” & “Romanesco”. What ever brassicas you have they all need to be sown in the same way. This is how I sow mine….

Now let’s move onto the Cucurbits. You know when the weather is soon warming up because you start to sow your Courgettes and Pumpkins. I’ve already sown my Butternut Squash, which haven’t woken up yet, so I may check those this weekend and maybe sow a few more. But here goes…..Pumpkins “Atlantic Giants” I’m trying again for a huge one. Courgettes “Sunstripe” & “Green Bush” and some outside Cucumbers “Alficoz” Hopefully you can find some local to where you live, I bought mine in Spain.

The last of my Sweetcorn “Lark” seeds was next. They are a few years old so I don’t expect the germination rate to be brilliant which is why I sowed 4 seeds per pot rather than the usual 2.

Now another load of varieties of Lettuce and their close relatives. The first lot of lettuce I sowed last month I’ve now pricked out in small groups and potted them on, so once you’ve done that it’s time to start the next batch. So these are the ones I sowed today: Chicory “Rossa di Trevisco”, Rocket, Lettuce “Mixed” and some Swiss Chard (I know it’s more closely related to Beetroot but I’m putting it in with the lettuce then it doesn’t feel left out).

If you’ve managed to get to the end of this blog then thank you for reading all of my bumblings. Here’s my latest April Update that was filmed at the beginning of April. Hopefully it has all the information you need….

Happy April!! Happy Easter!! Happy Gardening!!

See you soon,

Claire xxxx