There's a lot going on in the garden this year, so I need to be extra organised to make sure I get it all done!
Here's my garden plan for April:
This month I'll be sowing french beans in the greenhouse - a variety called 'Cherokee Trail of Tears', which has a bit of a back story I'd better let you in on. It was saved by the Cherokee people in North America when they were driven from their lands by the government back in 1838. Their forced march was known as the Trail of Tears and this prolific bean has since been passed on through the generations. I get my seeds from the wonderful Real Seed Company's heritage seed collection.
Also in the greenhouse, I'll be sowing basil and cilantro along with my cucumber and achocha plants. Achocha, if you've not heard of it, is a climbing cucurbit (i.e. related to cucumbers) with small, softly spiked fruits that taste and are prepared just like green peppers - raw in salads or slice and stir fry. But they're much easier to grow in the UK climate. I did a small test run last year of a variety called 'Fat Baby' and they were rather tasty!
Outside I will be sowing kale, purple sprouting and my second batch of lettuce. I will be planting out my first batch of lettuce along with my tomatoes.
I'm rather excited about the tomatoes this year as I've found a very unusual one with tiny pear shaped tomatoes that come on MASSIVE trusses. And from the pictures up on the Real Seed Catalogue pages, I mean MASSIVE!! It's called a cluster pear tomato and I'm hoping to be impressed. I'm also planting beefsteak and just regular medium sized salad tomatoes.
Forest Garden
I'll be planting out my red currants, some raspberries and a witch hazel. Under the red currants/ raspberries I'm going to plant some sweet violet to be used for the edible leaves and flowers.
Under the witch hazel, I'm going to plant out the strawberry plants I potted up from runners last autumn.
Cherokee Trail of Tears was one of the beans I grew last year (Real Seeds, too) - and there are more going in this year as well. A lovely bean, but not the most prolific in my garden - I'll be interested to see how they do with you.
ReplyDelete(PS: the beans dried beautifully in the last pods of the season - despite dodgy weather - and have all behaved well in this year's planting. Better than some others...)