Collection: What Seeds To Sow In April In Ireland
April is the month where the options of what to sow are at their peak, especially towards the middle to end of the month.
One of the great things about April is that there is a lot of vegetable, herb and flower seeds that can be sown directly into the ground where they are to grow. If you want more information on direct sowing, and some easier vegetable seeds to direct sow and grow, you can view it here.
It would take too long to go through all the possibilities of what to sow and grow in April, so instead let’s look at a few different ideas.
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Spinach, Lettuce, Rocket and other salad leaves are some of the easiest and quickest vegetables to grow, and you can sow their seeds little and often throughout the year to keep a constant supply.
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Root vegetables like carrots, beetroot, turnip, and parsnip can be direct sown. The good thing about these is that after harvesting them, they will store for a long time, or they can even be left in the ground and pulled up throughout the Winter months. (providing something else doesn't eat them first!).
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Tomatoes and Peppers can still be sown, it is not too late to get them going. They need a long growing season, but there is still time.
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Something for Winter harvesting. As well as having the quick wins of salad leaves etc. It is good to sow some seeds that will give you something to harvest in the late Autumn/Winter. Brussels sprouts, Kale, Cabbage, Leeks and Purple Sprouting Broccoli are good choices for this. Lot’s of people who sowed purple sprouting broccoli last year will be able to harvest it about now when there isn’t much else happening yet.
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Peas and beans can be direct sown now. If you choose climbing beans, you can utilise vertical space in your garden with both peas and beans and save some space. You can grow beans for eating as you pick them, or beans for drying, so you can use the beans in the Winter for soups etc.
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Courgette and cucumber seeds can be sown now. Courgettes and cucumbers are a very prolific producer if you keep on top of picking them. They’ll provide an abundance of food throughout the year.
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Spring Onions and regular onions can be sown now. Spring onions are something you can plant little and often throughout the year. Regular onions will take a good bit longer until they are ready to harvest, but they can be stored once harvested in Autumn.
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Pumpkin and squash are good to get going now. They’ll be ready to harvest in Autumn and can be stored and used as needed.
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Brassicas like Cauliflower, Calabrese broccoli, Kohlrabi etc. if planted now will be ready to harvest in late summer.
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Herbs! There are so many different herbs to grow. Picking the ones you like and use the most to grow is a good idea. Coriander is a nice one to grow outdoors in beds. A couple of things I like about it is when you’re watering it, you can get a strong smell of coriander in the garden! What’s also nice about it is if you forget about it, or you grow so much you can’t use it all, it will produce nice dainty white flowers that bees love.
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Sunflowers. April is the perfect time to sow sunflower seeds directly where they are to grow. Sunflowers are easy to grow, and it’s hard not to be impressed by them when they are fully grown! They are a great one for kids to grow, as the seeds are large and easy to handle, they germinate quickly and grow big! They can watch their progress throughout the year. At the end of the season, the seeds that the flower heads produce also provide great food for birds, and they can also be saved easily to grow next year.
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Nasturtiums are one of the easiest flowers there is to grow, they’ll also spread out and take up lots of room, so if you have a big area you need to cover they are great for this. They will also keep flowering for you all the way until we get frost. Another good thing is that you’ll probably only ever need to buy one pack of seeds! They are an annual plant, but they are prolific at self seeding themselves. And the chances are very very high that nasturtiums will continue to grow back each year wherever they are first planted. The flowers, leaves and seeds of the plants are also edible.
This list is obviously not exhaustive. The list of vegetable, herb and flower seeds you can grow at this time of year is endless! The collection of seeds below can all be sown in April in Ireland.
