April truly heralds the spring: longerdays, warmer soil and a dynamic energy that lifts the spirits and fills me with the urge to spend as much time as I can outside. I take my morning coffee into the garden to listen to the birdsong and buzzing bustle of nature responding to the call to raise young. Every day there is something new to discover – blossom, swelling leaf buds, the first asparagus shoots pushing up from the earth.
My kitchen is filled with mostly overwintered vegetables: home-grown spring cabbages, carrots from the polytunnel, leeks, chard, kale and trugs full of purple and white sprouting broccoli. I love the burst of flavour from new peas eaten straight from their pods, spicy radish and the first small harvest of asparagus, eaten al fresco for lunch on a sunny spring day (usually with my coat on!).
April is the busiest month for sowing and I am grateful for the preparation I did during the winter months, which means that my no dig beds are ready for planting. It’s still too early for tender plants such as runner beans: no matter how bright and mild the days, here in Somerset our last frost date is mid-May. There’s enough light now to be able to visit the allotment again in the morning before work, or in the evening afterwards. I find that even 15 minutes of pottering at the plot, hoeing or trowelling out the odd emerging bindweed roots, can boost energy levels and clear my mind.
SOIL SOLARIZATION
Esta historia es de la edición April 2020 de Kitchen Garden.
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Esta historia es de la edición April 2020 de Kitchen Garden.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
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EASY DOES IT!
As the growing season gathers pace there's one thing often in short supply: time! Ever feel like you're chasing your tail? Benedict Vanheems offers some tips to save valuable time and effort
A NEW Kitchen garden!
It's time for sowing and planting in the new garden and while Martin is busy with that, Jill is making a tasty asparagus soup
OUR PLOTTER OF THE MONTH
Kitchen Garden readers rose to the challenge when we asked for pictures of their plots to appear in the magazine this year. It's time to meet another of our talented competition winners
MANAGING WEEDS, NATURALLY
Weeds are never far away but you can keep them at bay without recourse to weedkillers
Meet the apple doctor
KG editor Steve Ott chats to Glyn Smith, head gardener for the National Trust's Erddig estate in Wrexham, about his career and love of the garden he has tended for 38 years
A CORNUCOPIA OF COURGETTES
It's time to sow a first batch of tender crops such as courgettes for picking through the summer months. KG editor Steve Ott has some tips for a super harvest
FLAVOURSOME FRUIT CURRANTS
you If I want to plant some soft fruit that is easy to grow and will give you plenty of flavour, how about trying currants?
TRY AMARANTH! The dual-purpose veg
Garden Organic's research manager Anton Rosenfeld extols the virtues of amaranth and how to grow it
A SPACE APART
Instagrammer James Martin shares his love of gardening and how much it has helped him and his family both mentally and physically under very difficult circumstances
HITTING THE SWEET SPOT
Welcome to the wonderful world of sweetcorn as Rob Smith takes a look at both old and newer varieties, with some growing advice too