The National Allotment Society - National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners Ltd

April on the plot

April is the month for making haste as the sun shines.  With the earth now tilted towards the sun we should begin to feel the benefit from warmer temperatures and longer days.

It’s the perfect time for preparing seed beds and sowing seeds. Start off by knocking down large lumps of soil using the back of a garden fork and drag a three pronged cultivator through to further break up the soil. Then tread down the soil using the heels to lightly firm the soil and remove any soft spots. Rake and tread the soil a couple of times more to produce the perfect crumbly tilth. Choose a sunny, windless day to sow the seeds you don’t want them to be blown all over the plot. This is especially important when sowing parsnips seed which is paper thin. Take all of the drills out and water along the rows with liquid sea weed to get the seeds of to a flying start. Have the labels already written and place them at the end of the rows before sowing to seeds. Sprinkle the small seed along the drills and space sow the larger seed to save money and the chore of thinning. Close the drill by drawing soil over the drill using the back of the rake and lightly tamp the soil along the row to make ensure good contact around the germinating seed. To complete the job and leave the soil al neat and tidy. Just scratch along the rows with the rake to create a set of straight lines that hopefully with deceive the birds into leaving the drill alone.

For more tips on what to do this month click here