Our April gardening was largely focused on expansion. We acquired several more large metal bins to make above ground beds, more varieties of seeds got delivered, and more soil and supplies. After our first planting of bok choy, radishes, arugula, spinach and carrots, we went full speed ahead to fill our small side yard.
We planted types of Swiss chard, kale, different bok Choy and radish varieties, zucchini, a couple types of green beans and spaghetti squash, cauliflower, romanesco, and more bok Choy, radishes, spinach and carrots that we did in the first round. We are regrowing a few things from our old groceries – green onion and celery, and propagating lavender and rosemary from other plants. And we’ve tried to grow some peppers from seeds which have not been successful (yet?) we think, because it’s been too cold.
One crucial thing we worked on this month, and what I recommend if you plant more than a few things, is keeping a record of what you grow! Once you plant 3, 4, 5 things, it gets confusing what went where and what to expect and when to harvest. We write down the plant and variety, the date it was planted, and if necessary, a reference to where it is. I’ve started making labels in each planter and my partner updates our spreadsheet.
Another improvement we made is starting to mulch. Mulching prevents water from evaporating and weeds from growing, making the water use more efficient. Especially for larger plants that will need a lot of room but are small and have more empty space around it right now, we put mulch around the base of the plant.
In one of our pots, we planted summer squash that never germinated, so we started growing other things and mulched; at the end of April, nearly 5 weeks later, one of the summer squash started germinating – we think it was the mulch that kept the soil moist and warm. (We did already start planting other things in that area so we will have to decide soon what we will keep/cut down/try to transplant).
So between planting, thinning, weeding, moving soil, mulching, fertilizing, putting out snail repellent, installing chicken wire, keeping records, watering and more, April was a month full of gardening. Thank goodness we have things written down because as the weeks have gone by during this shelter-in-place, I have lost track of the days and how much time has gone by. But overall, we are enjoying our garden and trying to be patient as our little plants grow!
Summary: Mulch has been going on; good to have a chard.
Next time you come to France, don’t forget to plan to stay 2 or 3 more months with us: we need gardeners at home! Our vegetable garden is not as pretty and varied as yours. Chapeau!
Merci! We would love to stay that long!
Wow, lots of plants! How much sunlight do you get on your garden?
There is so much fog so hard to say! There are some buildings/fence that block morning sun but it gets pretty good sun mid-morning through the evening, so I’d say 6-8 hours right now on a good day, depending on where it is. Our kale, spinach, and a couple bok-Choy are almost exclusively in the shade, so we will see….