“April is the kindest month. April gets you out of your head and out working in the garden.” ~Marty Rubin
HAPPY SPRING!!! So much has been happening here at Let it Bee Garden! I am so grateful for the opportunity to share everything here! While the fencing issue isn’t permanently resolved it is good enough for now that I can work with it. It is quite different from the little garden it once was! SO MUCH more life is in this garden than ever before, and it’s just the beginning! Most of my structures are in place and I am very, very pleased with how it looks and how everything is growing.
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I did spend a week away at the end of March but thankfully my fabulous daughter was here to keep things going strong! I am also SO EXCITED that she has been so inspired by the new garden that she is building her own gardens at her home! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am about that! So, I am sure as we go along we will share a bit about that here and there.
While I am not planting as many seeds for April, I do have transplants that will be going out into the garden and I will be direct sowing a bunch as well. Not all of the seeds that I planted in February and March made it. I have already had some pest pressure both in the form of insects and critters that got to things. That’s okay though, I have been able to pivot and protect things better. I will be sharing more about that in an upcoming post. This is the first time I have had big, on-the-ground raised beds, and I am learning about more challenges and how to get around them.
March Recap
While not all of my seedlings did super well through all the weather changes, etc. from February and March, enough of them did well that they will be transplanted out in the garden over the next week and many already have been. I will also be purchasing some transplants of things that either didn’t make it or that I don’t have and want. I have to keep reminding myself that this is essentially a brand-new garden. Despite the fact that I have had a garden ongoing here for over 3 and a half years now, that garden was taken by Ian. All that remains is a couple of pepper plants. I chose to go bigger and that has its challenges and rewards!!
There were other Monarch happenings in March as well. I knew that I would be away for a week, and would be very busy with the garden and other things in March/April. This meant I couldn’t fully help the Monarchs in the second half of March. However, I did raise and release 30 more gorgeous Monarchs at the beginning of March! It will be a bit of time before I raise more.
As for the second half, I did, of course, provide plenty of milkweed for the latest generation. I just couldn’t protect them all. There were a lot of eggs laid and many caterpillars hatched. However, I am not entirely sure what happened to most of them. This is why I wanted to help them in the first place. I know that there were probably more than thirty-however, that number went to nine and that is only because I built a different enclosure on the lanai and took several of the caterpillars that were in the fifth instar (just before chrysalis) and put them inside it. One did not do well, but the other eight went on their merry way as beautiful butterflies.
So, What am I Planting in April?
In April, I will be planting and/or transplanting
Fruit, Veg & Herbs: I have added Sweet Potatoes (re-planting as they were devoured-better protection in place now), beans, Sugar Baby Watermelon (probably closer to the end of the month), Dwarf Cavendish Bananas, Numerous Peppers (upon building and installing my 2 Pepper Place beds), Dwarf Moringa, Lemon Balm, Catnip, more Purple Passionfruit vine, Ginger, Yellow Turmeric AND BLUE TURMERIC! (I will be making a special post about the Turmeric happenings)
Flowers: I added more Nasturtiums (re-planting they didn’t make it either), more marigolds, a new Pink Hibiscus, at least 4 more types of Zinnias, more Sunflowers, Snail Vine, Echinacea, (the first ones of both didn’t take), more Borage, Jasmine, and White Bird of Paradise.
One big thing that I also have to keep reminding myself of is that direct sowing works so much better here for me. Every time I try to take the time to start seeds for many things, they just don’t do as well for me. When I direct sow them, there is a much greater success rate. My garden so wants to grow! It just doesn’t do as well with separate seed starting.
I finally got my Medallion installed in my main garden bed! I am SO beyond thrilled about that! I absolutely love this feature of the garden. It adds a whole different feel to it. I just love the whole thing. I feel it is really turning into something incredibly beautiful. It was, of course, beautiful before, just in a far more utilitarian manner. (as a side note, I will be making a change to it but still happy it’s out for now)
So much more is happening at LIBG! The worms are all doing super well. I will soon be putting some of them in some of the beds. I am also working on the east side of the garden planting a few shade crops and flowers. I am pretty excited about that since the only thing that has ever grown over there (since I’ve lived here) has been a volunteer beautyberry-that I think is coming back! Like most of my property, it was pretty ravaged in the storm but I have hope. I a beyond excited to have so many, many flowers! I just LOVE IT!
What are you growing in your spring garden?? Please feel free to share here or on my Facebook page!
Happy Gardening,
Jennifer