In the Vegetable Garden – April 2020

  • April 29, 2020
  • Comments Off on In the Vegetable Garden – April 2020

by Patty Leander
photos by Bruce Leander

A mixture of weeds and leaves quickly fill a compost bin, raising the temperature to 140° in a couple of days.
All that cardboard generated from home deliveries can be used to smother weeds. Remove packing tape and place it directly over weedy areas, being careful to overlap edges to keep out sunlight. Anchor the corners with ground staples, stones or bricks if desired. Wet it down and cover with a thick layer of mulch.

The viral pandemic has shuttered many aspects of our lives in ways that seem surreal, but one look outside and it’s easy to see that spring has not been cancelled …tomatoes are taking root, beets are bulbing, lettuce is going to seed, bluebonnets are blooming, poppies are smiling at the sun. Weeds persist, earthworms wiggle beneath the soil, ants are active, bees are buzzing, birds are chirping; nature is oblivious to news reports, safety warnings, and maps that track the spread of COVID-19. Gardens have always been known for their therapeutic and healing properties and they are certainly a haven during these unsettled times. Sunshine, fresh air and the physical sense of well-being that comes from spending time in a garden, especially tending vegetables that support a healthy diet, help diminish stress, if only until the next news report. Since nature is not closing down, let’s continue to feed the birds, plant for pollinators, compost garden and kitchen waste, stockpile leaves and by all means stop and smell the roses!

I have found my post-hip-surgery-garden-groove and am grateful to be moving again. The healing is gradual, the improvement is noticeable, and tending my veggie patch is good physical and mental therapy. I’m also catching up with online videos and informational gardening websites, including the excellent programming from producer Linda Lehmusvirta of Central Texas Gardener (www.centraltexasgardener.org). The title for her blog post on March 17 made me smile: “Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Spring.” As you settle in to what has become our temporary new normal, I hope that you are finding your garden groove and staying safe and healthy in this unprecedented time. Vegetable gardening has never been about instant gratification; nurturing seedlings takes time, building soil takes time, making compost takes time, and there is no better time to start than right now.

Saving poppy seed is easy: each bloom produces a single pod full of seeds. Let the pods dry on the plant, then carefully cut the stems and shake the seeds onto a plate or into bag (a good job for kids). Store in a cool spot indoors and plant seeds in the fall. Or just leave the poppies and seed heads in place and let them reseed on their own.

Here is the vegetable gardener’s checklist for April:

  • April’s warmer temperatures spell the end for cool season crops. If left in the garden too long their flavor becomes bitter and they attract unwanted pests. Harvest what is edible and compost the rest. However, allowing a few brassica plants to flower will attract beneficial insects to the garden.
  • Plant pole beans, butter beans, Southern peas, okra, winter squash, pumpkins and a second planting of bush green beans if you have the space. Small fruited varieties of winter squash can be grown on a sturdy trellis.
  • Hill corn and potatoes by pulling soil up around the base of the plants with a hoe.
  • Harvest herbs and green garlic to liven up meals.
  • Save seeds from open-pollinated vegetables and herbs. If you are growing open-pollinated lettuce, like “Crawford,” allow a few plants to flower and collect seed for sharing and for future plantings.
  • Apply a 3”-4” layer of mulch around vegetable plants to deter weeds, hold moisture and moderate soil temperature as summer approaches. As mulch breaks down it adds valuable organic matter to the soil.
  • Fertilize tomatoes and other plantings with a water-soluble fertilizer every 2-3 weeks to encourage strong growth.
  • Water deeply and thoroughly as the days get hotter to avoid heat stress. In early spring young vegetable plants require about an inch of water every 5-7 days but needs increase as growth progresses.
  • Watch for aphids—they love tender leafy growth but it’s not necessary to eliminate them completely because they also attract beneficials, which won’t come to your yard if there’s nothing there to eat. Young vigorous plants often outgrow insect damage, but if numbers do get out of hand, they’re easy to knock down with a strong spray of water.
  • Harvest asparagus spears over 4-6 weeks. As the spears start to diminish in size, allow the remaining spears to fully develop into ferns, storing energy and assuring a healthy harvest next year.
  • Pull or hoe young weeds before they have a chance to go to seed. Add them to the compost pile.
‘Crawford Reseeding’ lettuce, true to its name, is the easiest and reseeding-ist lettuce I have ever grown, especially during mild and moist spring weather. Because plant produces hundreds of seeds, I only allow a few plants to bolt; the rest get eaten, shared and occasionally composted when I can’t keep up.

Comments are closed.