April may be the first month of the sowing season. Most vegetables can be sown or planted; frost-hardy vegetables direct in your plot beds, and frost-tender crops inside or under cover.
It may also be quite wintry - there's a Buchan cold spell mid-month. If the weather is too cold to sow, better to have patience and sow a bit later; late sowings have a habit of catching up, and even overtaking seeds sown too early, as they experience fewer checks to their growth.
There is a high risk of frost throughout the month, so look out for crops that need protection, such as early potatoes.
General Tasks
» Weeding by hoe to discourage slugs.
Potato/Tomato family (Solanums)
» Plant Second Early Potatoes - early April.
» Plant Main Crop Potatoes - late April.
» Earth up early potatoes - especially to protect from frost.
» Sow tomatoes inside.
» Last month's tomatoes should be ready for re-potting into larger pots.
Bean/Pea family (Legumes)
» Place early pea supports.
» Sow Broad Beans and Peas.
Brassica family
» Sow cabbages, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, broccolis, kale, kohl rabi in protected seed bed; cover with fleece.
» Sow swede and turnip in final beds.
» Harvesting - Broccoli (Winter Sprouting), Cabbages (Spring Greens), Kale, Rocket, Turnip Tops.
Root vegetables
» Sow carrots, parsnip, salsify and scorzonera.
Onion family (Alliums)
» Sow leeks.
» Thin leek seedlings to 1.5 inches.
» Plant onion sets (heat-treated and ordinary).
» Sow onion seed - for smaller pickling onions.
» Harvesting - Leeks.
Other vegetable families
» Sow Lettuce - in rows in plots, and pots at home.
» Sow Beetroot, Spinach, Leaf Beet/Chard (late in month).
» Sow Sweetcorn in toilet roll tubes inside.
» Prepare beds for Squashes and Cucumbers.
» Harvesting - Winter Spinach, Chard.
Herbs
» Sow Parsley.
» Most herbs can be sown now direct - but sow Basil inside or under cover.
Fruit
» Harvesting - first Rhubarb of season!