With days consistently in the mid-80s and nights in the 60s, the garden is thoroughly “springing” into early summer.  The edibles of winter and spring -- bok choy, purple sprouting broccoli, cilantro, lettuce and tatsoi -- have all finally bolted and bloomed, and nasturtiums are looking a bit blowsy and worn out from the winds.  Celery is beginning to bolt, but I’m keeping it well-watered to keep the stalks crisp.  Artichoke globes are delicious and plentiful, big carrots are pulled so the littler ones can develop further, and oregano is ready for clipping and drying. 
 
Carrots
    Carrots are really crowded since I’d sowed several times when the first sowings didn’t germinate as readily as I thought they should.  So harvesting becomes searching for the big ones to relieve the pressure on surrounding tinier ones and enable them to grow.  After pulling the ones I want, I water the bed to resettle the remaining roots and remoisten the soil down to the tips of the roots.  This keeps them growing in cool soil so the sweetness is paramount. 
     As the summer heat increases, and water in the soil evaporates so the growing medium is drier, the sweetness will dissipate in favor of the “turpentiney” base flavor which makes them unpalatable no matter which the variety.  
 
Peas
    Peas are finishing up, with some varieties completely dried up but others still green and producing.  My favorite variety of the edible-pod type, Super Sugar Snap, yielded more than 2 gallons of pea pods over the last month. So it definitely stays on my list of must-grow varieties.
     Sugar Daddy, a dwarf version of Sugar Snap, was nowhere as plentiful as Sugar Snap. 
     Cascadia did well, in flavor and yield.  I’ll grow it again next year.
     The Sugar Magnolia variety was a first-timer for me, and in some ways astounding – more than 9 feet tall, with lilac-and-purple blossoms (unlike the white of all other edible-pea varieties), extensive tendrils, and high yield of purple pods (luckily, the vines slowly bent over when they had nowhere to attach above my 7-foot trellis, so the pods were within easy reach to harvest).  But they didn’t taste anywhere as sweet as the Super Sugar Snaps, even though I purposely picked them at varying stages of maturity just to determine when I liked them best.  So, I won’t grow them again.
     My husband’s row of peas – he prefers the ones you have to open and eat only the morsels inside – included Burpeeana Early, Iona, Sabre, and Wando.  All bore well but totaled only 1 gallon of pea pods over the month.  All four are still producing a few pods, but the vines are dying back.
 
Tomatoes
     Tomatoes planted a month ago are now vigorous and multi-branched 2 1/2 feet tall so I’m letting them set their blooms.  Letting the transplants focus their energy on developing extensive root systems is far superior to letting early blossoms set and divert energy to ripening the fruit since this doesn’t allow the plant to get well established first.
     I’ve just planted another batch of tomatoes – my favorites – Black Krim, Celebrity, Cherokee Purple, and Paul Robeson.  Even though I purchased the 4” plants at the same time, I’ve kept these well-watered and in the sun so I could delay their planting into the prepared beds for hopefully a succession of harvests after the first ones slow down. We’ll see whether this ploy works!
 
More April and May To-Dos
     See Monthly Tips.

    Wow, all that glorious winter rain, nice and sporatic so the soil could absorb it well (with apologies to those of you who suffered from the downpours) has resulted in glorious blooms of native plants.  
     On the edibles front, most lettuces and bok choy, broccoli raab, spinach, tatsoi, and cilantro have bolted - put up their seed stalks - and are no longer edible.  So, into the compost pile for them!  And, resowing and transplanting more of the same for eating through the Spring.  
     Into newly-amended beds go several varieties of beans, cucumbers, squashes, peppers, and the last plantings of tomatoes – more Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, and Celebrity. 
     Tomatoes transplanted last weekend are now a foot tall (I buried the stems about 5" deep along with the 4" root system).  
     I'm plucking off any tomato blossoms until the plants are at least two feet tall, to ensure that all the plant's energies go into establishing excellent root systems.  
    If I'd let the blossoms set, diverting the plant's energy to fruit, I'll sacrifice later quantity.
     Carrots are shaping up nicely.  I’m keeping them well watered to keep them succulent so the sweetness predominates over any bitterness.
     Even celery is starting to send up its bloomstalks, but I’m snapping them off immediately and keeping the plants well watered so their succulent, just like the carrots.
     Chard is still doing fine.  But then, in the past, plants have continued bearing nicely through the summers, so I’m expecting that again.
     Same goes for the Lacilanta kale.
     I’ll transplant more of the purple sprouting broccoli and Romanesco broccoflower.
     Some of the artichokes have already sent up their branches of fruits.  I’ll keep my eye on them to make sure they’re as large as they’ll get before the individual leaflets start veering outward – that’s the perfect time to harvest. 
     Don’t be concerned if the second and third tiers of artichokes are progressively smaller than the first ones.  It doesn’t mean that you haven’t fertilized or watered enough.  It’s just what they do.
 
Thin Fruit
     Time to start thinning excess fruit set on trees so remaining fruit will grow larger and without interference from other too-near-by fruits.  This is especially important for trees bearing fruit for the first or second time.  Allow a spacing of five inches between peaches on opposite sides of the branch, and three inches between plums and apricots.  Thin peaches before the fruit reaches almond-size for the greatest benefit in size and flavor of the remaining fruit.
 
Weed, Weed, Weed
     As unexciting as weeding is, it’s critical to get them out of the garden before they start forming their seedheads.  And don’t put them into the compost pile – the seedheads may indeed ripen and spread their seeds in the compost pile before the plants decay.  This is the kind of recycling you DON’T want!
 
More April To-Dos
     See Monthly Tips.