APRIL In The Garden

It’s been an unusual season, with warm weather (especially the nights) continuing longer than usual. This has been great for getting brassicas to grow strongly before the cool weather sets in, but it has also allowed the cabbage white moth to continue being a problem.

Usually, by this time of the year, we have had plenty of nights below 8 degrees, which kills the larvae. However, with the warmer nights, they have survived and continue to attack seedlings. For a quick solution, sprinkle with vegetable dust. For those wanting an organic solution, surround your plants with coriander seedlings. The pungent smell produced by coriander confuses the nearly blind cabbage moth, which finds the brassica mostly by smell.

Growing coriander next to your brassicas will help reduce the presence of the white cabbage moth.

The Vegetable Garden

PLANT:

• Beetroot

• Spring onions

• Late leeks

• Winter lettuce

• Broccoli

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SOW directly in the ground:

• English spinach

• Broad Beans

• Peas

• Chinese cabbage

• Asian greens

• Snow peas

• Spring onions

• Mesclun mix

• Rocket

• Coriander

Irrigation

With cooler nights this month, reduce the amount of time your irrigation is on and do early morning watering rather than in the afternoon to prevent your plants from being too wet and cold.

The Orchard

Late apples, including Granny Smith, should be ready to harvest. These can be turned into apple pies or crumbles and frozen for later use. Alternatively, you can simply stew them and put them into meal-sized containers to freeze.