Muddy advice: What to do in the garden in April Gumbo Soil Gulf ...

Basil seeds can be planted in April.

By Donna Fay Hilliard

Organic Horticulturist

April Issue

Average temperature: High 79, Low 58.

Seeds to plant:  Arugula rocket, Basil, Beans (Asparagus, Bush snap, Lima/Butterpeas, Pole, Yard long), Bitter Melon, Cantaloupe, Chayote (mirliton fruit),  Corn seed/sprouts, Corn Supersweet seed/sprouts, Cucumbers, Cumin/comino, Eggplant, Egusi Melon,  Endive,  Fenugreek,  lettuce, mache/corn salad, Malabar Spinach, Melon, Millet, Mibuna, Mizuna, Mustards, Nasturtium flowers, Okra, Peanut & Goober pea,  Perilla (Shiso), Pigon Pea,  red radishes, Rice, Roselle/Jamaican sorrel, Squash,  Southern Pea, Summer Savory, Sweet Sorghum, Sunflower, Tapioca, Winter melons, Watermelon.

Cuttings, roots:  Ginger root, horseradish root, Jerusalem artichoke tuber, Sweet potato slips (inside),  Bonaito sets, Taro tuber.

Plants to plant: Chile, Carlic chives, Lemon Grass, Lemon Verbena, Mint, Oregano, Peppers, Rosemary, Thyme.

Trees to plant:  Non-tropical fruit trees from containers, fruit tree bareroot, not tropical.

To Dos

  — Bookmark the webpage: http://sweorgsol.dynalias.com

  — Think about what you are planting to save seed for next season or year.

  — Utilize old varieties and heirlooms because hybrids will not germinate.

  — Utilize leftover seed or share, too bad we can’t have a root cellar here.

  — Think about learning to preserve the abundant crops by either canning or drying.

  –  Bring me insects or diseased plants for identification if you are not sure what it is.

  — Rotate your crops. Different pests attack different plants. So when  you change the plant families, the overwintering larvae will wake up in the late spring to plants that are not their vegetable choice. With less food, the less damage, and the more slowly they can multiply.

  — Crop rotation is like playing musical chairs. Group the plants of the same family and them move them from bed to bed. Use foru beds to do this for maximum production (tobacco family, cabbage family, cucumber family and legume or pea family). A fifth bed is used for preennial vegetables like asparagus, multiplying onions, ginger, horesradish, etc. Depending on your palette, herbs are good companions in the vegetable garden as well. 

     Editor’s note: Donna Fay Hilliard is an Organic Horticulturist and owner of Sweet Organic Solutions, 2710 Main St., Pearland, TX, 77581.  She can be reached at (281) 997-1900. Her Muddy Advice column appears monthly at GumboSoil.com.