April - monthly review

Due to being very busy with work I've not had time to update as regularly as planned so this is a potted history of the past five weeks.

In general, April has been a good month down on the plot. I estimate that I'm about four weeks behind a normal season, apart from in the greenhouse where I'm pretty much on track. There has been a growth spurt over the past fortnight, meaning the plot has definitely 'greened up' and there is plenty of blossom about now. As of Tuesday my plums and gages were in full bloom and the pears were just about to break. I can see the potential of this year's apple crop now but the buds are still tightly shut and I don't expect to see them open for at least another week. My two cherry trees (Morello and Stella) are covered in blossom clusters but these too refused to open by month end.

On my last trip to the plot it was a warm and still evening and it was pleasing to see all types of insect activity. In particular there was a steady procession of bumble and honey bees working the emergent flowers on my currant and gooseberry bushes. These are also carrying a good potential crop after some careful pruning over the winter so I am hopeful of an abundant, if slightly late, harvest of gooseberries, red, black and white currants.

It has been slim pickings in terms of produce. The hungry gap has been extended by my inability to generate any early crops from this year's sowings. I still have the last of the leeks and we've enjoyed several helpings of purple sprouting broccoli. I picked some forced rhubarb a fortnight ago and the plants grown in the open ground are now big and strong enough to harvest.

The main activity over the past three weeks has been sowing and planting in earnest to try and catch up on lost time. April remained cold to begin with but, importantly, it has been a very dry and windy month generally. This helped the soil to become workable and make planting outside viable. Spuds were planted during the weekend 13/14 April - first earlies, second earlies and maincrop all at the same time. Nothing has emerged yet and I don't expect a harvest before early July. I also set some Anya tubers in large pots in the greenhouse. The extra warmth and protection saw them grow quickly and they'll receive their final earthing up over the weekend before being left to produce some nice salad spuds for June. Onions, shallots and garlic have all been transplanted and I have created a new potager style section of my plot with a mix of dwarf fruit trees, herbaceous perennials and vegetables - broad beans currently the only edible part of said potager until the French beans and salads can be set out.  The only seeds I have sown direct are carrots, beetroot and parsnips. This was towards month end and thus far no signs.

The investment of blood, sweat and tears (literally) in my greenhouse has paid dividends. I think my tomato plants are more advanced than I've ever had them at this stage in the year and the Sungolds are now ready to be set in their final positions. I have lots of San Marzano catching them up with a later sown batch of Moneymaker, Fantasio and Yellow Brandywine about three weeks behind. The first courgettes were sown in April and emerged about a week ago; ditto some early French beans. Pumpkins and squashes have been set and last weekend I planted melons (Sherbet Orange), marrows (why?) and cucumbers (Burpless Tasty Green and Aurelia F1). The greenhouse has also helped me to bring on more hardy veg and give it a real kick-start before transplanting. I hope this means lost time in the open ground will be regained by giving them a boost in their protected indoor environment. I have a strong tray of red cabbages and the same number of little gem lettuce. I also set my leeks a fortnight ago and these have germinated in good numbers. At home I have some strong pepper plants and approx. 30 small celery Lorretta in biodegradable pots. Finally, I have sown quite a few ornamentals to mix with the veg across the plot. These include Zinnia, Cosmos, Sunflower and Cerinthe.

So that was April. A busy month of planning and preparing for future harvests. Optimism abounds now that I can guestimate my potential future harvests. Hopefully May will bring warm sunny days, mild evenings and overnight rain. Tasks will include sowing sweetcorn and beans and planting out the greenhouse with its summer residents. I'll let you know how I get on!