Gardening in April is a busy time. This is the time to prune your fruit trees if you have not gotten that done during the winter. It is also the time to start your fruit tree spraying schedule using your homemade spray.
Compost should be added to you garden before planting and all trellis and support systems should be put in place before the seeds are planted.
In Indiana the weather determines a big part of how the garden grows because we can get sunshine, hail, thunder, rain, and snow all in the same day. This year it has been rather cool so far. But plan ahead for April and May’s growth as the radishes, green onions, lettuce, and spinach are harvest you will need to have plants or seeds ready to fill the voids. You can plant beans, carrots, beets, squash and cucumbers in these empty spaces.
You will need to transplants the seedling that are under lights and start eggplants, pepper, and tomatoes under the lights early this month. These need to be transplanted to cell packs as soon as they come up and then muskmelon, pumpkins, squash and watermelon need to be sowed in peat pots. Use peat pots because these crops do not transplant well and you must not disturb them too much when you plant them out. I usually buy my peppers and tomato plants from the store instead of raising them from seeds.
Near the end of this month you can direct sow radishes, carrots, Swiss chard, beets, lettuce. mustard. rutabagas. turnips, and sweet corn.. Also plant out onion set and seed potatoes. I usually take a chance and sow a few of these early in March – sometimes it works and sometimes not so well.
The cold frame should be filling up with the plants that you started under the lights: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, endive, escarole, spinach, and parsley. They need the cold frame to harden off before being transplanting into the garden.
The asparagus and rhubarb should be emerging; harvest from mature patches while they are young and tender. Remove any flower stalks from your rhubarb plants.
It is important not to over water you seedlings or transplants. Prepare the soil for the tomatoes, peppers, squash, and cucumbers and lay some black plastic over the area to help warm the soil and control the weeds.
Pest can be controlled by placing a screen or floating row covers over newly planted crops or seeds. Do not over water as this can cause diseases and control weeds. Rabbits and deer can also cause problems in the garden and the only way to keep them out is with a fence. It needs to be at least 18 inches high and preferable buried 6 inches into the ground.
Greenhouses and tunnel gardens allow you to sow radishes ans turnips directly in the beds. Seedlings of calabrese, mini cauliflower, celery, chervil, coriander, zucchini, dill, french beans, kohlrabi, lettuce, oriental salads and scallions can be transplanted into the beds,
You can sow more seeds under your lights to be transplanted into the greenhouse later. Basil (4 seeds per cell). Celery (broadcast in tray), Zucchini (1 seed per 3 inch pot), Cucumber (1 seed in 3 inch peat pot), Coriander, Dill, and Chervil (5 seeds per cell), Climbing and Dwarf French beans ( 5 seeds per 4 inch pot), Kohlrabi (1 seed per cell), Lettuce (1-3 seeds per cell), Melon (1 seeds per 3 inch pot), Sweetcorn (1 seed per 4 inch pot).
You can raise Brussels sprouts, cabbage, calabrese, cauliflower, chard, chervil, coriander, zucchini, dill, endive, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, lettuce, parsley, perpetual spinach, pumpkin, scallions, squash, swede, and turnips under the lights to be transplanted in the outside gardens.
You should be able to harvest from your greenhouse and tunnels in April. The early cabbage, lettuce, radish, scallions, baby turnips, kohlrabi, salad rocket, oriental salads, spinach, chard, strawberries, and baby potatoes should be ready to harvest.
You will need to water more frequently and ventilate the tunnels/greenhouse as much as possible. Thin out celery and celeriac seedling under the lights and pot the eggplants,peppers and tomatoes into 5 inch pots. Overwinter crops need to be pulled up and put into the compost bin.
Watch for aphids, leather jackets, and cutworms. Use a garlic spray on aphids every few days. Remember to harden off all plants under the lights before planting them into the beds.
Last year I moved my main garden from the backyard to the front since the trees were providing too much shade in the backyard to allow the vegetables to grow well. I also made the decision to enlarge the garden by adding more raised beds. The smaller garden only had four beds which I have left in place in the backyard.
I have not decided what I will do with that area since it is fenced in nicely. The beds need more soil/ compost before anything can be planted Mosquitoes were another major problem in the backyard garden. There were times that no matter now often I sprayed the surrounding area it was impossible to work back there. There are some plants that can be planted in shade but they didn’t seem to grow that well last year. I figure I will work on this garden in my spare time this summer and decide what to plant later.
The new sun garden has ten raised gardens, a round strawberry bed and a bed for blackberries. I have been asked why so many beds and the answer is simple we eat a lot of vegetables.
Last year I just planted as I finished a bed and had no real plan. Things grew nicely but I soon learned that I needed to control the vining plants.
This year I decided to try square foot gardening and planting in succession. I finished the girds last night with the help of my hubby, I had planned on painting the last three grids today but it is raining so that will have to wait. I will work on the trellis next week – so there should be no vines covering up the walkways this year. The initial work and cost has been spread over the last two years but everything should hold up for years. The grids will help reduce the amount of seeds used each year and also allow for more plants to be planted in a smaller area. Who knew you could plant 16 carrots in a square foot and not a long row? No more hoeing between plants! Yes, even with my raised beds I had been planting in rows with smaller spaces between rows but not nearly as close as this. Remember with square foot gardening you do not have to plant as much seeds as you do with row gardening. Plant only what you need!
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Today’s organization challenge is to set up a home filing system.
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It was a rainy day so I spent most of it visiting with Doug. Chris brought home more dog food for Shoes and another toy for her. She must think it is Christmas with all the new toys and treats she is getting. It is a good thing she has her toys to keep her busy because she is inside and poor thing doesn’t like thunder. During the worst of the thunder she is under my feet and I am trying not to laugh but I can not encourage her acting so scared of a little noise. At least my feet are warm!
I did remember to worm the barn cats and have set up a schedule on the calendar to do so once a month..
Thanks for your interest in growing your own herbs and vegetables using our Kitchen Garden Planner. Below is a planting map for the garden you selected or created. Each square represents one square foot, and the easy-to-follow illustration tells you exactly how many plants or seeds to plant for each crop. Underneath the planting map you’ll find several tips for successfully planting each of these crops. For more info, use the 
DIY with Kathy! 