A Wild Child Garden in April

My garden is waking up, and it is a beautiful show! This month promises to be a symphony of colors, scents, and exciting changes that have breathed new life into every corner of my outdoor sanctuary, and into my soul.  The long days of winter are behind us!  The world is coming back to life.

First Signs Of Life

As the days grow longer and warmer, I’m noticing the first baby squash flowers making their debut. They always remind me that nature always finds a way to surprise us. It is always a shock to see them when it seems like just yesterday these plants were tiny seedlings.  But I am so glad because what follows shortly behind is that awful Squash Vine Borer. We have to move fast to get our harvests.  So seeing these flowers gets me so giddy with anticipation. Also, growing the right varieties of squash has also proven to be key in my ever evolving mission to beat the borer!  

Alongside the squash blossoms, the early strawberries are such a treat!!  There is NOTHING like homegrown, garden fresh strawberries. Strawberries start losing their sugars as soon as they are picked.  Eating them right in the garden for a little snack is about the most exciting and delicious part of my daily tending. This is one of those things that we plant in the dreary days of winter. And when you plant them they are bare root, look dead, and you wonder how they will ever come alive. And yet they do!  Another great reminder that nature's timing is always perfect!

A first for me this year is my apple trees!!  We planted them in the fall and have waited so (im)patiently for them to bloom!! And this week the first sign of green came bursting forth!! Oh my goodness!!!  I am growing 'Anna' and 'Ein Shemer' apples. Both have very low chill hours and grow well together here in the south.  Apples are new to me, but I am already obsessed because they are dormant in the winter, which means that we don't have to cover them!  JACKPOT!!! With apples the biggest thing is that you choose the right varieties. The rest takes care of itself.  

A Rose By Any Other Color??

I went out to the garden to the most bizarre thing ever.  My 'Cecile Brunner' rose had completely changed color.  WHAT???  Yes! I put a picture below, but have you ever seen something like it? So after hours of researching I learned it could be one of eighty three things.  Just kidding, but basically it could be cold nights, warm days, root stock, genetics, sunlight, humidity, disease, or a million other reasons. But it appears to not be reversible.  So what does it mean for me?  It means we are going to have to pull this one up.  And I AM DEVASTATED.  But, this makes my deep dark secret wish to have pumpkins growing on the arch in my garden more of a real possibility than it has ever been.  Nonetheless, this is just disappointing.  Want to hear more about my thoughts on growing and disappointments and frustration in the garden ?  I am sharing them on the Growing Gardeners podcast HERE!!

What I'm Planting This Month

This month there is so much to plant. I am going to be planting lots and lots of bush beans (my absolute favorite) and cucumbers.  I will also get my first round of melons in the ground.  This is a gamble, but I LOVE to gamble with melons! If I win, I will get lots of melons before I have to share the space with pumpkins. And if I don't, well, I am only out a couple of seeds!!  Get the rest of what Im planting this month is my April Planting Guide HERE!

The Case For NOT Planting More Tomatoes

In the wild child child garden, we are no longer planting tomatoes.  Here's why:  MATH!!! The math just ain't mathin'.  If you were to plant tomatoes today, in 90 days when the tomatoes are ready to BEGIN harvesting, it is the end of June.  And that is to begin harvesting.  No thank you!  To get tomatoes in July you'll need lots of water and lots of pest control.  That is why I am not planting more tomatoes. In the wild child garden, we plant early and plan to cover and by the time July rolls around, we have removed all of our tomatoes and moved on to more drought tolerant and pest resistant plants (like okra and peanuts and purple hull peas). 

But what if you haven't planted any tomatoes?  Then what?  Well, you have to get smart.  You want to find the shortest days to harvest tomatoes possible. Some favorites are the 'Early Girl' and 'Fourth of July.' You can also plant cherry tomatoes as they are much tougher in the late season.  'Sweet 100' and 'Sungold' are favorites!

I am not saying that you can't plant more tomatoes, but what I am saying is that you want to be smart about what tomatoes you are planting.

A Few Garden Favorites 

The show offs of the garden right now are definitely the snap dragons. What a beautiful surprise!  We planted in September, enjoyed beautiful fall blooms, but now they are back and better than ever....even after 8" of snow and below freezing temperatures for days.  They were left uncovered and never missed a beat!!  This is a wild child flower if I have ever seen one!!

The onions are almost ready to harvest.  As we anxiously await "the flop" when the onions signal that they are so close to being ready to harvest, the first signs of bulbing is something I don't know that we ever get used to. It is pure magic over and over and over.  

And finally the lettuces!!  I am determined to  keep these guys around for as long as possible.  And then I will plant some more! Keeping lettuce in the warmer months is not easy to do, but with a little bit of shade and continual planting, it can be done for longer that most expect.  Having fresh lettuce in my garden is something I am never ready to part with, so I do what it takes to keep it around!!

Adding Spring Chicks To Your Backyard Space

One of my favorite parts of the month is getting to add more chicks to my backyard flock.  I like to wait for the weather to warm so that I don't have to keep them on heat, and they love it too. The faster these babies can get their beaks in the grass the healthier they will be.  I love being able to bring them out into the warm sunshine as often as possible!!  This year, I am excited to host a brand new class for busy women who want to venture into a flock of chickens. Since I keep chickens the same way I grow a garden, I think this class will have lots of benefit for the new chicken momma who may be a little overwhelmed with the internet's complication of such a simple pleasure. To learn more about this class visit Wild Child Chicken Keeping HERE!

April Garden Tasks 

This month we will put away the frost cloths and cloches.  I will wash all of my seed starting trays and put them away for fall planting.  And I will finalize our Easter plans in the garden! We are hosting brunch this year, and I have posted my entire menu with recipes in the spring issue of In Season. If you haven't gotten your copy yet, you can get it HERE!! We will serve brunch and then dye eggs and wrap up with an Easter egg hunt!!  I'm certain there will be lots of baby chicks involved and so many memories made.  I will prepare for Easter in the garden by sprucing up the chicken coop for spring and tidying up the garden beds.  It's also time to refresh the hand towels and the porch planters.  What a wonderful month it is to grow!