Weeds are a downer. Many the great GIYing dream has been dashed against the rocks of a bed full of weeds.  We start off with a lovely clear bed, we sow some seeds, there’s a shower of rain and some sunshine, and hey presto, the bed is covered in weeds.  Lots and lots of weeds.  So you go out in your wellies and gloves, determined to sort them out - some of them play ball and come out clean with a single satisfying tug, but more of them break off at the base and you just know they will be back to haunt you in a week’s time.  And now you’re losing the battle.  In that week the weeds become more powerful, more persistent, more ubiquitous.  And before you know it, you JUST COULDN”T BE BOTHERED.  You’ve lost the war, and your GIYing plans are shelved for another year.

The key to controlling weeds is to dedicate yourself to weeding “little and often” and the best way to beat a weed is to hoe it before it becomes a weed.  In other words, run your hoe over your entire veggie patch once a week, regardless of whether there are any weeds or not.  Hoeing will disrupt the weeds before they get a chance to become weeds.  Buy yourself a decent Dutch or oscillating hoe – hoeing is actually quite a pleasant, upright task (compared to weeding by hand which is an irritating, back-breaking one). Hoe for Victory!        

Things to do this month

To Do

If poor weather in March has hampered your outdoor work, then April is the month to catch-up.  The key words for April are weeds and slugs. You need to stay on top of them both.  Check your early spuds regularly and ‘earth-up’ as required.  Water your tunnel/greenhouse – things can get pretty warm on a nice sunny April day and seedlings will dry out quickly.

Sow

Indoors: lettuce, tomato, pepper, chilli-pepper, cucumber, celery, celeriac, basil, leeks, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, parsley, courgette, marrow, globe artichoke, beans, sweet corn and pumpkin.  Outdoors: broad bean, onion sets, pea, beetroot, cabbage, spinach, Brussels sprouts, parsnip, spring onion, leek, carrot, radish, broccoli, turnip. Plant out cabbage plants when they are 15/20 cm tall into well prepared soil that has been manured.

Harvest

Stored fruit and vegetables are likely to be a distant memory at this stage and new crops are only starting to trickle in which makes April a tricky proposition.  The middle of this month might see the first asparagus and the first early spring cabbage.  The other two star performers this month are purple sprouting broccoli and rhubarb.    

by Michael Kelly