Garlic and broad beans
April is quite a busy month with a few jobs that need to be done before the cold weather really sets in. I will be sowing my broad beans and garlic this month. Both need to go into well limed soil but don't need lots of fertiliser. This year I am going make successive sowings of broad beans over a 6 week period in the hope of extending the crop into December. Last year I had a huge flush and they were all over before the end of November.
Brassicas
There is still time to put in some brassicas for winter eating. I have a few bare spots and will be filling in with broccoli, cabbages and caulis. Too late for brussel sprouts, and too late for many seeds but I have just sown the seeds of winter spinach, bok choy, winter lettuce, coriander and rocket. The bok choy and rocket were up in about four days so fingers crossed.
Caterpillars
I will do my final spraying of Dipel this week to control moth and butterfly larvae. I usually spray every 10 to 14 days and this year have achieved very good control. Irrigate the plants well before spraying and include a few drops of dishwashing liquid in with the spray to make it stick to the leaves. I am quite comfortable using this spray within my organic garden, it specifically targets the caterpillars causing them to stop eating immediately and drop of over the next couple of days. Dipel does not harm other insects. Butterfly activity slows right down from April on but I still found the odd caterpillar till June last year.
Snails and slugs
Slugs and snails are very active at the moment. Not sure how their breeding cycle goes but I have been wandering around the garden at night with the head torch on, goodness knows what the neighbours must think, carrying my bucket filled with very salty water and have found hundreds of them arrayed on my brassica tips like little jewels. I think I must have found the snail creche because there were dozens of tiny ones. The salty water works a treat in despatching them to slug and snail heaven and they dont smell. They just seem to pickle. My beer traps work well too for slugs but there is much satisfaction in the hands on approach. Generally I love and nurture my garden creatures but not these tribes.
Remove mulch
I mulch heavily in the summer to conserve moisture, keep roots cool and minimise weed growth. Now though is the time to move it all away to let the weaker autumn sun get to the soil and to remove the hiding place for slugs and snails. Weeds are slower to take hold from now on so weeding is not so difficult. I will compost this material over the winter.
Fruit trees
Spray stonefruits with bordeaux or copper spray solution now and again at bud swell in August to control leaf curl and other fungal diseases. Also to prevent brown rot clear away all the old debris from under the trees especially rotten and mummified fruit which may still be hanging. I give all my fruit trees except citrus a good few handfuls of dolomite limestone at this time of year and water in well. This helps prevent bitter pit in apples and is also good for the stone fruits. I have tended to be a hacker rather than a pruner of my fruit trees and am looking forward to our next garden visit in April to finally learn how to go about it.
Happy April gardening
