These May reflections are part of the Seasonal Reflections series — a year-long practice of living with the rhythm of nature.
May brings all that March and April have promised: new growth, new green, new light and oh, the smell of all the flowers and blooming trees and shrubs! Finally, we’re in full spring mode – even though we may not be used to it yet.
👉 In these May reflections: the garden, the kitchen, and the art of not rushing through the best month of the year.
A few days ago, I left the flat early in the morning and put my shoes on to leave for work. I was still a bit tired, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw my neighbours’ pear tree through the window. It was white, and I thought: “God, it has snowed tonight” – until I realised that the tree was covered in bloom!
And this is exactly what living seasonally in May feels like…
May in Nature
Nights can still be cold, though. Here in Bavaria, we can expect night frosts until mid-May. In fact, starting from May 11, we celebrate the days of the “Frost Saints” (“Eisheilige” in German), a bunch of saints whose commemoration days fall on the last expected frost dates around here. That doesn’t mean, of course, that from May 16 onward there won’t be any more night frosts, but mid-May is pretty accurate.
Everything seems to be happening at once: the grass suddenly shows a lush, vibrant green again, leaves and blooms burst out of trees that were still bare yesterday, and the birds and insects are busily hustling and bustling around.
The fruit trees are not the only plants in courtship mode, though. Early vegetables are ready to be picked as well.
🌿 Living with the rhythm of the seasons? Join my Seasonal Letters for gentle reflections, monthly guidance, and reminders to slow down with nature.
May In The Garden
While we still had to be careful about what we planted and sowed in the garden in April, now in May, we can finally transplant even the heat-lovers amongst our vegetables.
Remember when we seed-started peppers and chillies in January? Mid to end of May, we can bring them outside.
The cucumbers we grew from scratch? Plant them outdoors after the last night frosts.
In many temperate climates, May is also the time of our first outdoor harvest. The radishes we sowed earlier, spinach, peas and salad are the first vegetables ripe for harvest now. I don’t know about you, but my body longs for fresh, homegrown food after all those months of preserves and ferments. A spring salad with eggs is now often all I need.
We can close the gaps that have formed when we harvested these early vegetables by sowing or planting others. This principle is called succession planting and, if done cleverly, it not only makes sure that you use your garden space efficiently, but also keeps pests and diseases at bay. Here you can read up on succession planting in more detail.
But what to do when it rains? Well, let’s step inside and see.
May In The Kitchen And At Home
When I have planted most of my vegetables, it’s time to clean the windows. Starting from January, when peppers and chillies moved in, my windowsills had become crowded during the last few months. Now, I enjoy the new minimalism with just some orchids – and maybe one or two seed trays with the next batches of veggies for the next gap closing.
To be honest, I don’t do much at home in May regarding cleaning, cause I’m mostly in the garden or outdoors to enjoy the “new green”.
In my opinion, you can either have a great garden or a clean house.
I’m choosing the former.
However, the first harvests need to be preserved. So, if I am indoors, you’ll probably find me in the kitchen, fermenting radishes, cooking woodruff syrup or making honey from dandelions or spruce tips. I mean, is there anything better than picking fresh vegetables from the garden or foraging in the woods and then coming home and making that harvest last?
Don’t let yourself become overwhelmed, though. There’s no need to hustle through May. Instead, let’s see what we can do for ourselves.
Self-Care in May
It’s so lovely to get outside right now. I didn’t know how I’d missed bird song and flowers, the scent of blooming trees, and the warmth on my skin until it all came back.
I don’t know about you, but I just don’t wanna rush through May. Instead, I’d rather choose a slow-living spring.
There’s only one May per year; let’s enjoy it to the fullest with these simple spring self-care ideas.
Self-Care for Body…
It’s easy now to wake up with the light, so why not grab the opportunity to do so? The sun rises early enough to have a long day ahead, but not so early that we get tired by noon. Even if you don’t want to get up with the sun on a workday, try it on the weekend. The slow energy of a May morning and the promise of a whole fine spring day ahead are worth the effort.
Get outdoors whenever you can, no matter the weather. Even a shower of spring rain can be wonderful for the skin (or so I keep telling myself). I, for example, love visiting the botanical garden in my town and enjoying all the blooming plants and the promise of flowers yet to come. But even when my time is limited, I try to enjoy my lunch or coffee break outside. Just a few minutes of sunshine can work miracles.
…For Mind…
Any creative project you do now, do it outside. If that’s not possible, try doing it at an open window.
If you want to learn something new, why not try to make bouquets of wild flowers, make daisy chains or press flowers for later journaling.
Being the classical music lover that I am, May always means Mozart for me. Fortunately, Augsburg has a Mozart festival this month, and I’m looking forward to attending the exceptional performances. If there’s one composer who could capture the light-heartedness and cheerfulness of May, it is Mozart.
I also love reading poems in spring, especially those about spring itself and the power of renewal and new beginnings.
… And Soul
I love taking a few minutes every day and either going outdoors or opening the window and listening to the sound of spring. Often, I close my eyes, cause I can concentrate better that way. If you want to give it a try, check how many different birds you can make out, listen for bees or other insects, and see what other natural sounds you can hear.
When it’s raining, I love sitting next to a window or under the patio roof and watching the splatter of raindrops, hydrating the earth. It’s one of the pillars of the growth that’s now happening abundantly, and instead of complaining about the “bad weather”, let’s make it a habit of being grateful for the rain.
🌿 May Invitation
This week, drink one cup of coffee or tea outdoors.
No phone, no rush.
Just the sounds, scents, and light of May around you.
Living seasonally begins with small moments of attention.
Enjoy The Vibrant Energy of May
May asks us to be present while things speed up.
The key to not getting swept away is simple: step outside. Listen. Smell. Look up at a tree that was bare last week and is now full of green. Drink your coffee in the garden. Pick the first radishes with your hands.
Spring only comes once a year. All those long, dark winter months, we’ve waited for it. Now let us have it.
And although there’s a lot we can finally do again, we don’t have to match Nature’s pace. I rather think that participating in all that spring has to offer outweighs the hustle of productivity.
After all, how better to honour the gift of renewed life than by simply enjoying it?
If these reflections inspired you to get outside or into the kitchen, you might enjoy browsing the garden section for seasonal growing guides, or the preserving section for ideas on what to do with your first harvests. And if you missed last month, you can read my April reflections here.
Want to continue living with the season? Check out all the articles of the Seasonal Reflections Series:
Cucumbers are a great vegetable to grow in your garden – and it’s easier than you might think. Even if you’re a beginner gardener, I promise you that you can harvest an abundance of cucumbers that will taste so much better than the store-bought stuff. In this complete guide on how to grow cucumbers, you’ll find everything from seed-starting to harvest.
Imagine going out into your garden or greenhouse in the summer, picking a large, ripe cucumber in passing, and biting into it right away. The crunchy sound it makes, the burst of fresh flavour on your tongue, and its juice dripping from the corner of your mouth… You can have all that.
In this guide, I’ll show you everything I know about growing cucumbers — from starting seeds and creating the right growing conditions to harvesting an abundant, flavourful crop.
Quick overview
Stage
Key Requirements
Timing
Seed-starting
22 - 29 °C / 72 - 84 °F soil temperature
Beginning to mid-April
Germination time
5 - 10 days
Transplanting
After the last frosts
Mid to end of May
Sunlight
6 - 8 hours per day
All season
Nutrients
Nitrogen and potassium; phosphorus when blossoms form
Every 3 - 4 weeks
Harvest
Regular picking
8 - 10 weeks after sowing
Beginner Success Checklist
❄️ Plant cucumbers only after frost danger has passed
🌞 Choose a warm, sunny location
🌱Grow plants vertically on a trellis
💦 Keep soil consistently moist
🥒 Harvest fruits regularly to encourage new growth
What are Cucumbers?
Many people are astonished when they learn that cucumbers belong to the same plant family as melons and pumpkins. This family is called Cucurbits or, in Latin, Cucurbitaceae.
Cucumbers (Cucumis sativus), like pumpkins, melons and zucchini, are botanically speaking berries, a so-called “pepo”. A pepo is defined by a relatively thick peel, juicy flesh and seeds within.
Choosing the Right Cucumber Variety
Some cucumbers are just larger and longer than others, and that’s it, right? Wrong. There’s much more to cucumbers than meets the eye…
Variety
If you believe cucumbers are just those long, slender, green fruits you can find neatly aligned in supermarket shelves, you don’t know cucumbers yet. Stay with me, and I’ll show you.
Common cucumber types
The main distinction between cucumber types is by their intended use.
Salad cucumbers or snake cucumbers
Salad or snake cucumbers are probably the best-known cucumber type in the mid-latitudes. Their fruit is cylindrical, straight with a slight bend, and with both edges a bit thinner. They have smooth skin and are mostly eaten fresh – in salads, on sandwiches or as sticks with a dip.
Snake cucumbers are said to be sensitive and thus are often cultivated in a greenhouse. Fortunately, there are many more robust snake cucumber varieties that grow excellently outdoors.
Did you know that it’s quite easy to build a greenhouse without breaking the bank? In my guide on how to build a greenhouse, I show you how you can do it from scratch.
Salad cucumbers are mostly cultivated on trellises, where they produce straight fruits. You can also grow them without a trellis, lying on the ground, where their fruits will become bent. That said, if you want to get straight cucumbers, grow them on a trellis.
My favourite snake cucumber varieties are “Telegraph Improved” (greenhouse), “Delicius” (outdoors), “Tanja” (outdoors) and “Straight Eight” (greenhouse).
Pickling cucumbers or gherkins
Pickling cucumbers are commonly cultivated outdoors because they’re more robust and require less warmth. As the name indicates, pickling cucumbers (or gherkins) are mostly used for pickles, either by preserving them in a vinegar brine or by fermenting. You can, however, eat them fresh as well.
By preserving cucumbers, we make sure that we can eat cucumbers all year round.
My favourite pickling cucumber varieties are “Boston Pickling”, “Vorgebirgstraube” (a German variety), and “Homemade Pickles”.
Stewing cucumbers
As the name suggests, stewing cucumbers are mostly used for steaming and stewing. They grow well outdoors and produce large, thick fruits that turn yellow as they mature. They’re often used in Asian cuisine for curries and chutneys.
Colour and shape varieties
Cucumbers are not only green – they can be white, yellow, orange, brown and sometimes even blue.
The same goes for their form: we mostly know cucumbers as longish fruits, but there are also bent, curved, short and even round varieties with wrinkled, reticulated, warty or even spiky peels.
Even the taste differs. Salad cucumbers are crunchy, fresh and juicy, but rather neutral in taste; there are varieties with fruity, sweet or slightly sour flavours.
How to select the right cucumber varieties for your garden
Space
A greenhouse is nice to grow cucumbers in, but not absolutely necessary. In fact, you can cultivate cucumbers even in a pot on the patio or balcony, IF you live in at least zone 5 and the pot is at least 50 cm / 1.5 feet in diameter.
In the patch, cucumbers need about 50 cm / 1.5 feet of space between each other and are best grown on a trellis.
Quantity
In general, outdoor cucumber plants typically produce 6–12 fruits per season in temperate climates.
For salad cucumbers, calculate about 2 plants per person in your household, more if the plant produces small cucumbers. Depending on the variety and growing conditions, one cucumber plant typically produces between 5 and 20 fruits over the season. Smaller pickling varieties often yield more fruits than large slicing cucumbers.
If you want to make your own pickles, you need at least 4 pickling cucumber plants per person.
As a beginner, I’d recommend choosing resistant cucumber varieties like “Tanja” and “Telegraph Improved” as salad cucumbers and “Vorgebirgstraube” and “Boston Pickling” as pickling cucumbers.
Cucumbers need at least 6 hours of sunlight per day, better 8 or more. Choose a spot in your vegetable garden that lies in full sun and is protected from harsh winds.
My garden, for example, is facing southwards and has no houses or trees on the east and west sides that could cast a shadow on the vegetable patches.
Normally, that would expose the garden to the west winds that usually blow here, but it lies in a slight hollow, which creates a microclimate that’s slightly warmer than the surroundings.
Water
Cucumbers need regular, thorough watering, or else their fruits become bitter.
Outside in the garden, I usually water them twice a week or, when it’s really hot and dry, every other day. To check if they need water, I poke a hole of about 2 -3 cm (1 inch) in the soil with my finger. If it’s still moist under the surface, I don’t do anything, but if it’s dry, I get the watering can.
In the greenhouse, where temperatures are usually higher, I water them every day or at least every other day.
In pots, watering daily is a must, especially when it’s hot outside.
Water your cucumbers in the morning rather than in the evenings and avoid splashing water onto their leaves.
Garden vs Containers
You can cultivate cucumbers outside in a garden patch, indoors in a greenhouse or even in containers on a balcony or patio.
I’ve tried all three methods and learned the following:
Growing Cucumbers Outdoors
Cucumbers can grow well outside in a patch in your vegetable garden, but only if you use outdoor varieties. They grow quite well outside, even if the summer is not all hot and dry. Last year, for example, was quite rainy here in Bavaria, but the salad and pickling cucumbers I grew outdoors still produced fruit. Admittedly, the harvest has been larger in warm summers, but with the cucumbers from the greenhouse, it was enough.
Growing Cucumbers in a Greenhouse
To have a more stable harvest, I love cultivating cucumbers additionally in the greenhouse. There, I’m in control of watering, and temperatures are always a bit higher than outside. It’s important, however, to keep the greenhouse properly ventilated so that temperatures don’t climb too high.
Growing cucumbers in containers
Lastly, I also grew a cucumber in a container on my balcony. I chose a pot with about 40 L volume, which turned out to be ok. Ensure the seedlings get enough light while being protected from rain. When it gets too cold or moist outside, you can easily carry them in and pamper them there until the weather’s right again.
Cucumbers in containers need more water than those in a patch or greenhouse. Make sure to water them thoroughly at least once a day, better twice.
Soil
Cucumbers need nutritious, well-draining soil that can hold water but without waterlogging. To prepare your garden or greenhouse before planting, distribute compost on the patch and rake it roughly in.
It’s great to have your own compost, and it’s not as complicated as you might think. Here’s my beginner’s guide to composting that will tell you how to do it.
Before you plant cucumber seedlings, make sure the soil is warm, between 15 – 18 °C (60 – 65 °F). Otherwise, they’ll stop growing for quite some time.
If you grow cucumbers in containers, fill them with mature compost, mixed with rock flour, nettles and well-rotted manure or sheep wool. The nutrients in these components will slowly release into the soil, where they can be absorbed by the plants.
Spacing
As cucumbers grow, they become broader. It’s important, therefore, that we plant them with enough space between them and also between the rows so that they have enough space.
If we plant them too closely, they’ll not only produce less fruit but will also be prone to diseases and pests.
In the patch, the right spacing between cucumber plants is 50 – 60 cm (20 – 25 inches) and 80 – 100 cm between rows (2 – 3 feet).
The row spacing for pickling cucumbers is smaller. I usually install a trellis at the north side of a patch and plant the cucumbers on both sides with about 40 cm (20 inches) between rows.
In containers, logically, we put only one cucumber plant. When they grow, we can easily pull the pots apart, creating enough space for our plant babies.
The perfect companions for cucumbers
Proper vegetable companions strengthen and protect our cucumbers while at the same time making the most of the (usually too small) space in the patch. The best-known companion plant for cucumbers is dill, but there are many other options:
Basil: Repels pests, attracts pollinators and promotes growth
Dill: Attracts pollinators
Nasturtium: Attracts aphids
Peppers/Chillies: Similar light and water requirements
Beans: Enrich the soil with nitrogen
Garlic: Protects from fungal diseases and aphids
Onions: Repel pests like white fly
Corn: Works as a windbreaker and natural trellis
Lettuce: Keeps the soil moist
Spinach: Keeps the soil moist
Radishes: Repel pests like cucumber beetle
Avoid planting cucumbers near these crops, as they compete for nutrients or share diseases:
Now that we know the growing conditions for cucumbers, let’s start growing them!
How to Start Cucumber Seeds Indoors vs. Direct Sowing
You can either seed-start cucumbers indoors or sow them directly into the garden patch.
The best way is to combine both methods.
Start your first cucumber seedlings indoors, plant them out after the last frost and at the same time sow further cucumbers directly into the patch. When the pre-started plants get a disease, like for example mildew, or stop producing fruit, you can rip them out and still have a harvest from the directly sown cucumbers.
Let me show you how to start cucumbers from seeds
Seed-starting cucumbers – The What, When and How
When to start cucumbers indoors
In Bavaria, the last frost is expected in mid-May, so that would allow me to sow cucumbers as early as mid-April.
I’ve tried it several times, and it never worked. That’s why I always start all of my cucumber varieties indoors.
Cucumbers grow relatively fast, and if we seed-start them too early, they can easily become thin and spindly and thus would be weak and prone to pests and diseases.
The best time to seed-start cucumbers, therefore, is about 4 – 6 weeks before the last expected frost date. In my hardiness zone 7b, that’s beginning to mid-April.
Equipment
For seed-starting, you need a container, planting soil, your seeds and water.
Container
There are many pre-made seed-starting containers to buy at the store, for example, mini greenhouses and special seed-starting trays. They usually have a transparent lid that creates a warm, protected environment. I got some and use them every year.
Cucumbers, however, like all the members of the Cucurbit family, don’t like their roots disturbed. For that reason, it’s better to sow them into single pots, one seed per pot. That way, we don’t have to thin them out and dig up their roots when transplanting them from the large seed-starting container to a pot or even outdoors.
Soil mix
The best soil for seed-starting cucumbers is either store-bought cultivation soil or well-rotted compost. Seeds have all the nutrients they need for germination in themselves. A rich, nutrient-dense soil would only lead to spindly and weak seedlings.
Put the soil in the containers you want to use and make sure to distribute it well to the edges. Press it slightly flat and fill up more soil if necessary. There should be a gap of about 1 cm (0.4 inches) from the soil to the edge of the container.
Seed-starting process
Put the cultivation soil into the pots and press it slightly in. When applying a bit of pressure with your hand, it should be firm but not brick-hard.
Poke a hole in the middle of each pot and put one seed in.
Label the pots. Honestly, that’s crucial to identify the plants later. No, you won’t remember where you put which variety and yes, it’s absolutely necessary to take the (short) time and stick labels into each pot.
Carefully water the pots and cover them either with a transparent lid (if part of a kit) or just wrap them with cling film. That way, we create a greenhouse-like atmosphere that holds the warmth and moisture at a constant level.
It’s important to open the covering daily to allow airflow and prevent fungal diseases.
Put the pots in a warm place with temperatures between 22 and 29 °C (72 – 84 °F) until they germinate, which is usually after 5 – 14 days. When the seedlings show, move the pots to a slightly colder (20 – 22 °C / 68 – 72 °F) room with enough light.
Before we can release the seedlings into the wild outdoors, we have to harden them off. Start about a week before transplanting and put the seedlings outside for a couple of hours.
It’s important to monitor the temperature, as cucumbers are sensitive. Make sure it’s a warm day and put the seedling tray or pots in the shade so they don’t get too hot or even sunburnt.
Each day, prolong the time the plants stay outdoors, and after 3 days, you can start placing them in the sunlight (not around noon, that would be too much).
To make them accustomed to the wind, gently brush them with your hand, simulating wind movement.
After one week of hardening off, the cucumbers are ready for transplanting.
Transplanting Cucumbers to the Garden or Containers
When the nights finally stay warm, it’s time to get our cucumbers outside.
I always transplant my seedlings on a cloudy day or in the late hours of the afternoon to reduce the risk of plant shock.
First, I lay the pots or carefully uprooted plants out on the patch so that I can adjust the distance between them. Remember: it’s 50 – 60 cm (20 – 25 inches) between plants and 80 – 100 cm between rows (2 – 3 feet). If you plant in large pots, you can skip that step, of course, as it’s only one plant per pot.
In each planting hole, I put a small shovel full of moistened, well-rotted manure and half a handful of rock flour as a long-term fertiliser. This provides my cucumbers with some quickly available nutrients (manure) and a long-term fertiliser (rock flour). More on fertilising in “Daily Care and Maintenance”.
Then I put the plants as deep as the first real leaves. They’ll build further roots on the stem that’ll help them take up more water and nutrients.
I cover the hole with the soil I removed earlier and carefully press it down around the roots.
I water the seedlings properly after planting so that the soil settles around the roots, leaving no air holes.
When all my cucumbers are in the ground, I cover the soil between them with mulch. This could be hay, straw, pulled weeds, leaves, sheep wool, or wood shavings. If you plant in pots, mulch as well. Mulch helps reduce water evaporation, so you don’t have to water too often. It also reduces the growth of weeds, which I appreciate because weeding is not my favourite task.
If you live in a cooler climate and don’t have a greenhouse, you may want to consider foil tunnels around the plant rows. I wouldn’t use covers as they are too heavy and could eventually break the plants off.
Daily Care and Maintenance for Cucumbers
We’ve got our cucumber babies safely in the earth; now we’ve got to make sure that they thrive.
Watering Routines
Cucumbers consist mostly of water, and that’s why they need lots of it. Water cucumbers thoroughly every two days, daily when it’s hot. If they get too little water, cucumbers produce bitter fruits that are also slightly poisonous.
To check if my cucumbers need watering, I test the soil by touching the surface and even poking my finger into the ground. If it feels dry, it’s time to water.
I water the plants thoroughly, but ensure I don’t overwater them. With good drainage, either in the patch or the pot, that’s no problem.
Fertilising
Once your plants are thriving, the next step is to support them with the right nutrients.
Cucumbers are heavy feeders, which means they need a lot of nutrients. I prepare the patches in spring by adding compost and raking it in.
After the first fertilisation during transplanting (see above), I don’t feed the plants until the first buds show. Now they need phosphorus and potassium, and we can feed them with a tomato fertiliser.
Every 3 – 4 weeks, I add some nettle manure to the water and water my cucumbers with it.
Temperature control
We can’t control the temperature outside, of course, but we can monitor it in a greenhouse. I also had times when I forgot to open the windows of my greenhouse and only got there around noon or even later. Especially on sunny summer days, temperatures get high very fast in a greenhouse, and although cucumbers need it to be warm, hot is too hot, and temperatures above 35 °C (95 °F) can stress plants and cause blossoms to drop.
The same goes for colder temperatures. Below 10 °C (50 °F), cucumbers will stop growing. When low temperatures are forecast, we just protect our babies with a foil tunnel or by closing the greenhouse windows.
If you cultivate cucumbers in pots, put them indoors when it’s too cold outside. If it gets warmer, you can always put them back out.
How to build a cucumber trellis
The easiest method to build a trellis for your cucumbers is by binding three long rods together at their upper end and installing them like a tipi. The cucumbers will climb upwards, and the fruits will stay clean.
This trick also allows you to plant more cucumbers in the same space.
Protecting Cucumbers from Pests and Diseases
Sooner or later, all cucumbers will get infected with powdery or false mildew. To keep the damage as low as possible, you can either plant resistant cucumber varieties and/or use succession planting. That way, you’ll have fresh cucumbers all season long.
The most common pests on cucumbers are aphids, thrips and spider mites.
Companions like nasturtium attract aphids away from cucumbers.
To protect cucumbers from thrips and spider mites, I usually use beneficial insects like lacewing larvae and predatory mites. This method works best in the greenhouse; outdoors, it’s a bit trickier.
The best prevention against pests and diseases, though are healthy plants! Follow the care guidelines in this article—consistent watering, proper spacing, good air circulation, and companion planting—and you’ll avoid most problems.
But how do we know when cucumbers are ready to harvest? And how to harvest them properly? I’ll show you.
Pollination and Fruit Development
Cucumbers develop male and female blossoms, which can be easily distinguished. Understanding the “who’s who” of cucumber blossoms improves pollination chances and makes it easier for you to pollinate by hand if necessary.
Understanding male and female flowers
Cucumber plants produce male and female flowers on the same plant. Both flowers are yellow and have five petals that grow thinner towards the end and slightly bend outwards.
The petals build a corolla, which is surrounded by green sepals.
Male flowers
The male blossoms have a tube at the base of the corolla from which the stamens develop, which produce pollen. Male blossoms grow in bundles on thin stems in the leaf axils.
Female cucumber flowers
Female blossoms develop pistils instead of stamens. They grow separately on the plant and show a slight fruit setting.
Some cucumber varieties, the so-called parthenocarpic varieties, only produce female flowers. They don’t need pollination and are especially suitable for greenhouses. Outdoor cucumbers, however, need male flowers for pollination, so they should generally not be removed.
Should you remove male cucumber flowers?
It’s not necessary to remove the male flowers, but in some cases it can help to enhance the number of fruits and their quality.
Male flowers lack fruit set at the base. Their main task is pollination.
When you see that your cucumber plants have too many male flowers compared to female ones, you can remove some of the male flowers to concentrate the plants’ energy on female flowers and thus fruit formation.
Don’t overdo it, though. There should always be enough male flowers on the plants to guarantee pollination.
How to remove male flowers the right way
Identify the male flowers: they have a slim stem with no small cucumber at the flower base.
Choose the right time: The best time to remove male flowers is in the early mornings when the plant is not stressed (yet), and the flowers are still closed.
Clean tools: Use a clean and sharp knife or garden scissors to remove male flowers to prevent infecting the plants with diseases.
Cut off the flower: Cut the male flower stem about 2 – 3 cm (3/4 – 1 1/4 inches) below the flower, without damaging the nearby leaves or stems.
Training and Pruning Cucumbers
It’s common knowledge that we need to prune tomatoes, but what about cucumbers? Well, let’s say there’s no common consensus on whether pruning cucumbers is necessary.
Let me explain to you the reasons behind that and how it’s done. After that, you can decide for yourself if you want to prune your cucumbers or not.
Why prune cucumbers?
Limited space
In general, we only prune cucumbers that climb up a trellis and have limited space to grow. Cucumber plants can claim lots of space – if we let them. To prevent them from proliferating, especially in a greenhouse, we guide one or two shoots upwards. All other side shoots are pruned.
Prevent diseases
Cucumber diseases like mildew especially appear in a humid and warm climate. The danger of infection is enhanced when there are too many leaves on the plants that keep the humidity inside. Pruning removes side shoots and their leaves and ensures improved aeration.
Enhance fruit formation
One shoot can only care for a limited number of fruits. When the main shoot has many fruits, the side shoots should be pruned. After all, we don’t want more leaves but more fruits.
Additionally, by the end of August, it’s not sensible to let the cucumber plant produce flowers. It’s too late for fruits that develop then to mature before cold temperatures strike.
When you have enough space – usually outdoors instead of in the greenhouse – you can just let the cucumbers grow as they like, as long as they don’t get in the way of other plants.
How to prune cucumbers
Pruning cucumbers in itself is quite easy. Simply cut off suckers that develop in the axis between the main and side shoot, either with your fingers or with a knife or garden scissors.
Also, remove side shoots and leaves from the two feet at the bottom. That way, you can water more easily without wetting the leaves.
When your cucumber plants have reached the top of the trellis, cut off the shoot tips. That way, they won’t grow any higher.
Make sure your hands and tools are clean when pruning so that you can’t spread diseases.
Hand pollination techniques
Usually, pollination is done by flying insects like bees, bumble bees and others. However, due to unfavourable climatic conditions like cool soil temperature and high humidity, pollinators may not be able to do their job properly. In that case, we may have to pollinate our cucumbers ourselves:
The best time for hand pollination is mid-morning when the flowers start to open. Make sure you have both male and female flowers at the same time.
Pick a fresh male flower and carefully remove the petals to expose the stamens.
Rub the male stamens directly on the stigma of the female flower. Alternatively, you can use a small, clean brush to take the pollen and transfer it to the stigma of the female blossom.
If successfully pollinated, female cucumber blossoms will soon develop little cucumber fruits below the flower.
Harvesting Cucumbers – When and How
Finally! Our cucumbers are ready to be harvested. Depending on the variety, that can be as early as 8 weeks after seed-starting.
It’s best to harvest middle-large cucumbers. Very young cucumbers don’t taste good, yet very large fruit have a thick skin and contain many seeds.
To harvest cucumbers, cut them off with a sharp knife or garden scissors. If you try to rip the fruit off the branch, you usually end up ripping off the branch or part of the fruit. Yep, speaking from experience here.
The fruit stem, or at least part of it, should always remain at the fruit so that it stays closed. This is especially important when you want to store the fruit.
How to Store Cucumbers
Fermented gherkins
Fresh cucumbers should always be stored in a dry and cool place, optimally at 10 – 13°C (50-55°F). They shouldn’t lie next to apples or tomatoes, as these fruits emit the gas ethylene, which makes cucumbers spoil faster.
Cucumbers don’t store equally well in the fridge, as the temperatures are too cold for them.
For long-term storage, preserve your cucumbers. Pickled gherkins are a classic, as are fermented gherkins.
And if you have more cucumbers than you and your family could ever eat, give them to friends and neighbours. I’m sure they’ll love it!
Troubleshooting
1. Why do my cucumber plants have flowers but no fruit?
Common Causes & Solutions:
Immature plants: It takes about 4 weeks from pollination to harvest. Stay patient!
Temperature stress: Temps are either too high or change a lot between high and low. Provide shade in extreme heat and protect your plants from cold nights with fleece or bring the pots indoors.
Pollination problems (especially in the greenhouse). Open the windows and door, and plant insect-friendly flowers and herbs to attract pollinators.
2. Why are my cucumbers bitter?
Common Causes & Solutions:
Irregular watering: Water cucumbers thoroughly at least every other day, if in containers, at least once a day.
Heat stress: Temps are either too high or change a lot between high and low. Provide shade in extreme heat and protect your plants from cold nights with fleece or bring the pots indoors.
3. Why are my cucumber leaves turning yellow?
Common Causes & Solutions:
Overwatering: Poke a hole near the cucumber roots and check the soil. If it’s dry, water thoroughly
Nutrient deficiency: Cucumbers are heavy feeders and need a lot of nutrients. Add nettle manure or tomato fertiliser
Natural ageing: With age, cucumber leaves turn yellow and die
4. Why do cucumber plants suddenly wilt?
Common Causes & Solutions
Heat stress: Temps are either too high or change a lot between high and low. Provide shade in extreme heat and protect your plants from cold nights with fleece or bring the pots indoors.
Underwatering: Water cucumbers thoroughly at least every other day, if in containers, at least once a day.
Root damage: If the damage is small, the plant could recover
Fungal disease: Remove the infected leaves immediately and discard them in the garbage (not the compost). The plant may recover.
5. Why do my cucumbers grow small or misshapen?
Common Causes & Solutions
Poor pollination: Attract more pollinators by planting flowers and flowering herbs; open the windows and doors of your greenhouse to let the insects in.
Inconsistent watering: Water cucumbers thoroughly at least every other day, if in containers, at least once a day.
Nutrient deficiency: Cucumbers are heavy feeders and need a lot of nutrients. Add nettle manure or tomato fertiliser
6. What is the white powder on my cucumber leaves?
The Cause: This is powdery mildew, a fungal disease prone to cucumbers.
The solution: If just a few leaves are infected, remove them immediately and discard them in the garbage (not the compost). Also, make sure that air gets to the plant and, if necessary, prune it.
If the disease has spread too far, remove the whole plant.
7. Why did my cucumber plants stop producing fruit?
Common Causes & Solutions
Natural ageing: With age, cucumber plants stop producing fruit
Nutrient deficiency: Cucumbers are heavy feeders and need a lot of nutrients. Add nettle manure or tomato fertiliser
Diseases: Diseases weaken the plant
Lack of harvesting: The more you harvest, the more fresh fruits the plants produce
FAQs – Questions and Quick Answers
✔️ How long does it take to grow cucumbers?
Depending on the variety, between 50 and 75 days from seed-starting to harvest.
✔️ Do cucumbers need a trellis?
It’s advisable, especially when your space is limited. It’s optional, though.
✔️ How many cucumber plants do I need per person?
About 2 plants of salad cucumbers and 4 plants of pickling cucumbers per person.
✔️ Can cucumbers grow in pots or containers?
Absolutely. Just make sure they are large enough (diameter about 40 cm / 16 inches)
✔️ How often should I water cucumbers?
Check the soil and water when it feels dry. Outdoors, water regularly and deeply every 1 – 2 days, in a container, water daily or – if very hot – twice a day.
✔️ When is the best time to plant cucumbers?
After the last night frost, in zone 7b, that’s mid-May. In the greenhouse, you may plant two weeks earlier.
✔️ Can cucumbers grow in partial shade?
Yes, but only if the space is protected from wind, the soil has good drainage, and the plants are properly fertilised.
Time to Get Growing
Remember when I told you earlier how wonderful it would be to just go into the garden, pick a cucumber and bite into it right away? You’re just a few steps away from cultivating your own cucumbers this season.
I hope I’ve shown you that it’s not rocket science and that you definitely have it in you to grow cucumbers this year!
Just keep in mind to start them from seeds about 4 – 6 weeks before transplanting, leaving them enough space and at best, grow them on a trellis.
If you then water and fertilise them regularly during the summer and make sure that they stay healthy, there’s nothing between you and a delicious bowl of cucumber salad!
Ready to get started? Your cucumber-growing adventure begins now! 🥒
If you want to grow more delicious vegetables in your garden, you can read on here:
These April reflections are part of a monthly practice of noticing what each season asks of us.
In this article, I share why April’s unpredictability may make its demands, but also how we can learn from nature to embrace this unsteadiness and live with April’s energy instead of against it. Living seasonally in April is the key to the flexibility this month is demanding from us.
April is not known for its temperance. One day, it’s raining, and a harsh wind is blowing, the next the sun is shining, and it gets so warm that you haul out your shorts and t-shirt. Only to get back to your down jacket because it’s snowing the next day. Yet, even though it may still be cold, there’s a discernible shift in the air. The light is changing visibly, and all of a sudden, nature is getting busy.
The transition from winter to spring is not always as smooth as it is in March. Instead, the seasonal rhythm shifts into the next gear. April, therefore, is more like a bridge between the soft, slow awakening of early spring and the full vibrancy of late spring and early summer.
Here in Bavaria, March has been rather warm and dry. Early bloomers like cherry trees, hawthorn, daffodils and hyacinths have sprung into bloom, painting a lovely picture of vibrant colours on the background canvas of still-dull greens and browns. Last week, however, started in April-like fashion with temperature changes of more than 20 °C / 36 °F (- 3 °C / 27 °F during the night and 18 °C / 65 °F during the day), giving us a hint of what April will have in store.
I use all those blooms as an example of resilience and flexibility, though. They defy the weather and bloom nevertheless, delighting us (and the busy insects) with their colour and overwhelming scents.
The energy of spring and summer is already there; let’s take our cue from the blossoms and meet it with the same resilience.
As nature accelerates, our own activity naturally follows.
The Garden in Full Motion
While in March the garden was slowly stirring back to life, it’s now buzzing with energy. When I’m in the garden, I love watching the bees humming busily while looking for early blooms they can pinch nectar from. The birds are on the lookout for twigs, straws and other nesting material, picking worms in the meantime for sustenance. Even the odd squirrel is hopping nervously from patch to patch, trying to remember where it buried its nuts last autumn.
When the soil has warmed, we can already sow some cold-hardy vegetables like spinach and radishes and plant the first lettuce.
Also, you may want to plant some blooms in your garden to attract more of those busy pollinators.
Natural as it may be to head out into the garden, though, we’ll also want to prepare our house for spring.
Preparing the Home for Spring
If you haven’t done so already, now is kind of the last opportunity for a spring cleaning. Daunting as it may sound, it’s actually quite satisfying to organise, throw out and deep clean your house. Top it with some fresh flowers and Easter decorations, and spring can come.
Speaking of Easter: the return of the light, blooms and life didn’t go unnoticed with our elders. What we now celebrate as Easter has had a long tradition before that. It’s the celebration of the earth’s awakening after winter and its newfound vigour, vitality and fertility. A new year lay ahead (remember that in ancient times the new year was celebrated at the spring equinox), and with it the promise of new life and the possibility to grow everything that’s needed for survival.
Today, few of us rely on Mother Nature for survival, at least not directly. But whether you live self-sufficient or not, the joy at the start of a new growing season and the reverence for all that grows again is a wonderful reason to celebrate.
Self-Care in April
It’s easy to become infected with the new energy of spring, but it’s equally easy to fall into the “busy trap” that leads to overwhelm and fatigue. I mean, I get it, been there numerous times. We not only want to do everything at once, now that the sun’s out and it’s warm again. We also have the feeling of being behind and too slow.
None of it is true, however. There’s enough time to do our garden work and cleaning. Consistency, as always, is key here, and it’s more advisable to take small, manageable steps instead of overloading our to-do lists.
Self-care is an important factor in April. Short, mindful breaks help us to preserve our newfound energy and recharge our batteries.
Self-care for body….
How better to serve our bodies in April than with fresh food? The first radishes are ready, as is spinach and by the end of the month, we can even harvest asparagus – or buy it at a farmers’ market. Early herbs like chive and chervil can be found now and used to spruce up a freshly cooked dish.
I don’t know about you, but in spring I start craving fresh salads again, for example, this spring salad with poached eggs. As a dessert, I love rhubarb cake now or something with fresh, tangy lemons.
To burn it all off, a walk or a bike ride is perfect. Walking in spring sunshine is a wonderful opportunity to watch the wildlife and flowers. But don’t let the weather keep you from your outdoor exercise. Just grab a thicker coat and your umbrella and take a quick stroll. And when was the last time you put on your wellies and hopped into puddles? You’re never too old for that.
… For Mind…
After a short stroll in the rain, I can’t wait to snuggle back in on my couch with either a good book or some good music. Right now it’s Bachs passions for me as they’re performed a lot before Easter. And honestly, every time I listen to this divine music, I gather something new. Magnificent.
If classical music is not your thing, curate a spring playlist with your favourite songs. Music is an important means of well-being.
On sunny or at least dry days, I like drinking my morning coffee on the balcony. Sometimes, I get out there after lunch, grab a good book and read for a quarter of an hour in the fresh air. After months of looking out at the garden through the window, it’s so lovely to be out again!
… and Soul
The energy of the new season can give you the boost to try out something new. If you have pondered starting water colouring, embroidery or soap making but didn’t have the energy to get into gear, now is the perfect time.
I also love visiting the flower fields in our botanical garden here in Augsburg in April. There are lots of spring flowers and trees in full bloom now. It’s not only a sight for sore eyes but also a challenge for the nose, as many of these blooms endow us with overwhelming scents which go straight into our limbic system and rewire us for spring. Crazy, isn’t it?!
Another of my favourite leisure activities in April is going on a photography trip. That sounds fancier than it is, though. It means just grabbing my camera or phone and taking photos in nature. This not only rewards me with nice photos but also sharpens my eye for the small daily changes outdoors that I would otherwise overlook.
Easter is the perfect opportunity to invite friends and family for a brunch and maybe even an Easter egg hunt afterwards. When everybody brings something to eat, you won’t have to do all the work and can enjoy this spring gathering.
What April’s Unpredictability Can Teach Us
April is unsteady, no denying it. Some days are warm, sunny and just wonderful, while others are cold and harsh.
Seasonal living does not mean fighting against these quick changes. Instead, April invites us to adjust, to stay flexible, and to respond to what each day brings.
You planned to do some garden work today, but now it’s raining? Clean up your house instead, listen to your spring playlist and maybe decorate Easter eggs.
The laundry is piling up, waiting to be ironed, but the sun has come out again? Head outside and get your hands in the dirt. I promise, no one will touch your laundry in the meantime 😉.
Uncertainty is what makes April special – and teaches us trust. Trust in change, in becoming, and in the quiet unfolding already underway.
Until next month — stay in rhythm with the season.
April is one of the most important months in the vegetable garden. As soil temperatures rise and frost risk slowly decreases, it’s the perfect time to sow seeds, plant seedlings, and kickstart the growing season.
With longer days and warming temperatures, April is prime time for both direct sowing and transplanting a wide variety of vegetables. Whether you’re a seasoned gardener or trying your hand at growing food for the first time, this month’s activities will set the stage for months of fresh, homegrown produce.
Let’s explore what vegetables you can sow and plant in April in your garden and how to give them the best start for a successful growing season.
Please note that timing may vary depending on your climate and hardiness zone.
What to Sow and Plant in April (Quick Overview)
Here’s a cheatsheet of what you can sow and plant in April:
Sow winter leek indoors now. I either sow 2 – 3 seeds per small pot, or I take a larger container and sow them in rows that I will be thinning later.
Brassicas
Although we can plant the first batch of brassicas like broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower, white and red cabbage outdoors now, we should still sow a second batch indoors. That way, we can transplant them outdoors several weeks from now and have a continuous harvest of brassicas instead of one overwhelming flood of harvest.
I’ve found that, as those second batches will be outside in the summer, we may have to choose late instead of early varieties.
Lettuce
Like with cabbage, the second round of lettuce-starting has begun! Now, however, we want to choose varieties that like warmer weather, like, for example, iceberg and oak leaf lettuce.
Tomatoes
If you haven’t seed-started tomatoes for outdoor planting already, mid-April is the latest time to do so. Sow several seeds per pot and thin them later.
The cucurbit family consists of cucumbers, zucchini, melons and pumpkins, and they can all be seed-started indoors in April. None of them, however, takes thinning very well and therefore they all need to be seed-started in separate pots.
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Vegetables to Sow Outdoors in April
These early sowings reward you with the first fresh harvests of late spring. In fact, over the years, I’ve noticed that early April sowings often outperform later ones because spring moisture supports germination naturally.
Broad beans
The beginning of April is the latest time to sow broad beans. They are very tolerant of low temperatures and can even withstand light frosts, which is why they don’t need protection against the cold.
Peas / Sugar peas
There are early varieties that can be sown outdoors mid to end of March. Just remember that peas are climbers and therefore install a trellis or net between the rows.
Carrots
Again, we’re talking early varieties here. If you planted onion bulbs in autumn, sow the carrots in the rows between the onions. That way, carrots and onions will protect one another from harmful pests.
Radishes
Carrots need quite some time to germinate, and it’s difficult, therefore, to weed the rows. A trick to still see where the carrots have been sown is to mix radish seeds between the carrot seeds. Radishes need only a few days to germinate and then not only show us the row but are a yummy vegetable for salads or preserve them by fermenting radishes.
Lettuce
Contrary to the varieties we start indoors now, lettuce we sow outdoors in April has to be very tolerant of cold temperatures, like Asian lettuce. If we mix the early varieties we sow now and the later varieties we seed-start indoors, we can continually harvest different kinds of leafy greens. This method of sowing vegetables every 3 – 4 weeks is called succession planting, which not only ensures a continuous harvest but also that the soil in our patches is always covered.
All lettuce varieties germinate in light only. Do not cover them with soil!
Rocket salad
Rocket salad is one of the easiest crops to grow! Sow it, harvest the leaves, and when you let it bloom, it will spread itself.
Spinach
Spinach is almost a no-brainer: I sow it every April, cover it with winter protection fleece, and just let it grow. It’s usually quite tolerant of the cold and will grow well under protective cover.
Beetroot
Although you can seed-start beetroot indoors, that’s only advisable when you have a small garden or want to grow just some of them. In our family, we need plenty of beetroot for salads, pickles, fermented or cooked, and that’s why I sow them directly in April.
Salsify
Salsifies need a deep, loose soil to grow long, straight roots. A patch where potatoes grew the year before would therefore be ideal.
Vegetables to Plant Outdoors in April
Before we plant anything outdoors, it’s important to harden the seedlings off by gradually exposing them to outdoor temperatures. Start by putting your plants outside or in the greenhouse for 2 – 3 hours at first and prolong that time over a week before transplanting.
Lettuce
The lettuce that we started in February or March is now ready for transplanting outside. Make sure that the seedlings are not planted too deeply, or they may rot. As a rule of thumb, put them into the soil as deep as they were in the pot.
Brassicas
All early brassica seedlings like kohlrabi, early Savoy cabbage and cauliflower, as well as white and red cabbage, can be planted outdoors in April. Leave plenty of space between the seedlings so that you can plant celery in between later. Cabbage and celery are great companions in the patch and repel each other’s pests.
Leek
Plant leeks between the cabbage rows. That way, you not only make the best use of space here, seeing that cabbage grows on the ground and leeks on the “first floor”, but they also deter pests from one another. For the best protection, however, cover them with a pest protection net.
Like garlic, onions and shallots can be planted now. Either plant small bulbs you can buy at the nursery or the seedlings you’ve started earlier that year indoors.
Potatoes
In my hardiness zone 7b, I don’t plant potatoes before the end of April. Considering that our last night frosts can happen until mid-May, the end of April is perfect for putting the pre-sprouted potatoes in the ground. When the shoots start looking out of the soil, the worst weather will be over.
Frequently Asked Questions About Planting in April
Planting in April raises many questions, especially about timing and frost protection. Here are the most common ones:
Can I plant tomatoes outside in April?
If your hardiness zone is 9 and above, you can plant tomatoes outside in April; in all other zones, it’s too early.
What vegetables grow fastest from April sowing?
Radishes are one of the fastest-growing vegetables; they only need about 30 days from sowing to harvest.
Is April too late to start a vegetable garden?
Absolutely not. On the contrary, April is a good month to start a vegetable garden as the growing season is just starting.
What if frost returns?
Check the weather forecast, and if frost is predicted, cover your crops with a garden fleece.
What vegetables can I plant in April?
Lettuce
Brassicas
Leek
Garlic
Onions / Shallots
Potatoes
When does frost danger end?
That depends on your hardiness zone. In my zone 7b, for example, the last frosts are expected by mid-May.
April Planting Summary
April is the perfect month to begin sowing hardy crops outdoors, start warm-season vegetables indoors, and transplant early seedlings. With proper timing and frost protection, your vegetable garden will quickly gain momentum for the growing season ahead.
The gardening season has officially started! Time to dig in the dirt!
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April is one of the busiest months in the vegetable garden, with sowing, planting, protecting seedlings, and preparing beds for the growing season.
In this guide, therefore, I’ll show you:
what to sow outdoors
how to protect seedlings from frost
how to prevent pests
essential maintenance tasks
Let’s break down garden tasks we can do in April:
April Garden Checklist (Quick Overview)
Every April I feel the real gardening season finally begins. If you only have time for a few things, focus on these essential April garden tasks:
Weed garden beds early
Harden off seedlings
Sow vegetables outdoors
Fertilise plants
Protect seedlings from frost
Prevent pests
Plant tomatoes in greenhouse
Plant strawberries
Support pollinators
Here’s a quick overview of the most important garden tasks to tackle in April.
Garden Task
Best Time in April
Priority
Weed patches
After rain when soil is loose
High
Harden-off seedlings
One week before planting
High
Sow and Plant
In warm weather
Medium
Protect seedlings from cold
When temperatures fall below 5 °C (40 °F)
High
Fertilise plants
When planting and after seedlings develop real leaves
Medium
Protect seedlings from pests
As soon as planted
High
Plant tomatoes in greenhouse
End of April
Medium
Plant strawberries
In warm weather
Low
Attract pollinators
When planting vegetables
Medium
Protect leeks and onions
When weather gets warm
Medium
Weed Garden Beds Early
✔️ Why it matters: Weeds compete for nutrients
Earlier in March, we removed the mulch from the patches so the sun could warm the soil. With rising temperatures, however, weeds will also find their way towards the light. To be honest, I underestimate every year how fast they actually grow once it’s a bit warmer…
Now, when they’re still small, is the right time to pull them out and keep the patches free for our vegetables.
Quick tip: Weed after rain when the soil is loose.
Harden off Seedlings Before Planting
✔️ Why it matters: Plants must get used to outdoor conditions
Some of the vegetables we have seed-started indoors during the last weeks can be planted outdoors in April. Before we do that, we must harden them off so they won’t get a shock when they move from that cosy, protected atmosphere indoors to the outside garden, where temperatures are colder and the wind can blow harshly.
Imagine you were plonked from your cosy, warm couch and dropped into an ice bath. You wouldn’t like that, would you? Unless you’re regularly taking ice baths. In that case, forget this comparison, you freak, but harden off your seedlings anyway.
To harden off our seedlings, we put them outside in the shade. At first, for a few hours and each day longer. After about a week, they can be planted outside in our April vegetable garden.
✔️ Why it matters: Plants need nutrients to grow optimally.
Our vegetables have outgrown the baby and toddler stage and are now teenagers. Ravenous teenagers! Which means they need plenty of food, or in that case, fertiliser. Gardening in April, therefore, involves fertilising our vegetables.
After planting our seedlings outdoors, they’ll be grateful for a healthy dose of organic liquid fertiliser to push their growth.
✔️ Why it matters: Young plants can freeze to death when it gets too cold.
Sowing and planting outdoors brings so much fun, but remember that it can still get cold, especially during the nights. In my hardiness zone 7b, the danger of frosts won’t be over before mid-May! Thus, the April vegetable garden still needs some protection against harsh weather conditions.
Check out your hardiness zone to learn when the last frosts can be expected.
To protect our sensitive seeds and baby vegetables from harsh weather, we must cover them with a fleece. Although that won’t seem much, it will be enough to keep the air and soil underneath well above freezing.
Quick tip: Watch the weather forecast and cover your seedlings with a garden fleece when temperatures drop below 5 °C (40 °F).
Protect cabbage and leeks from pests
✔️ Why it matters: Pests can destroy your harvest.
Cabbage and leeks that we can plant outdoors now are especially prone to pests like the cabbage white butterfly and the leek fly. To protect them, we can cover them with a protective net, which is much lighter than a fleece. It won’t keep off the cold, only the pests. Most often, you can buy protective nets as a set with half-arches that you can stick across the vegetables and put the net on top. That way, our plants have plenty of room to grow while being safe from pests. Just make sure that you fix the net thoroughly into the ground.
By the way, celery is a good companion for cabbage. In the unlikely event that a cabbage fly finds its way under the net, it may find itself repelled by the celery smell.
Quick tip: Protect your plants from the beginning to keep pests out.
Protect your seedlings from snails and slugs
✔️ Why it matters: Slugs feast on seedlings.
Are there any pests more dreaded than snails and slugs? I don’t think so. They are practically everywhere and, especially in spring, eat all they can find. Our seedlings are kind of a huge buffet to them, and if we want to harvest some vegetables for ourselves, we must make sure that snails and slugs won’t get near them!
A good way to keep those little suckers off our seedlings is to put snail collars around them, which they can’t overcome. Or you get out in the wee hours of the morning or in the evening with a bucket and collect them. Choose your way, but I prefer the collars.
Quick tip: Snail fences and collars keep snails off your seedlings.
Plant tomatoes in the greenhouse
✔️ Why it matters: Conditions are warmer in a greenhouse, and your tomatoes will get a head start.
By the end of April, you can plant your tomato seedlings in the greenhouse. It’s still a good deal too early for outdoors, but in the protected atmosphere of a greenhouse – and if there’s no forecast of severe frosts – planting them in the greenhouse is okay.
Quick tip: When night temps in your greenhouse don’t fall below 10 °C (50 °F), you can plant the tomatoes.
Plant strawberries in April
✔️ Why it matters: Now’s the best time for planting berries.
Another garden task in April is planting new strawberries and protecting them with a garden fleece if necessary. If you have strawberries in your garden already, remove all wilted leaves now, as they may be infected with diseases. If you want to make strawberry jam this year, plant the berries now!
Quick tip: Prepare the new strawberry bed by loosening the soil and working in some compost.
Attract Pollinators
✔️ Why it matters: Pollinators increase our harvest.
All fruit-bearing vegetables, as well as fruit trees and bushes, need pollinators to produce their fruits. We can help attract all those bees and insects by sowing flower strips as insect pastures, either on the borders of our vegetable garden or in the patches between the plants. Calendula, for example, is not only a great attractor for pollinating insects but can be used for teas as well as an ingredient in many homemade body care products like soap and oil.
It depends on the hardiness zone. In zone 9 – 11, you may plant tomatoes out in April but in zone 7b, for example, where I live, it’s too early. Instead, I plant my tomatoes into the greenhouse at the end of April when temperatures don’t fall below 10 °C (50 °F) at night.
Do seedlings need frost protection in April?
Yes, nighttime temperatures can still drop below freezing in many regions.
When should seedlings be hardened off?
Start hardening off your seedlings about one week before you intend to plant them out.
Is frost still a risk in April?
Yes, in most hardiness zones it is. Protect your seeds and seedlings with a gardening fleece when temperatures fall below 5 °C (40 °F) at night.
Why April Garden Tasks Matter
After the relatively quiet winter months, April can seem a bit overwhelming. But don’t let the list of tasks discourage you. You don’t have to do everything at once. It’s rather a question of timing and consistency.
Prepare the garden by weeding the patches, sowing and planting your hardened-off seedlings, and then it’s our job to protect the plants from harsh weather and pests and support beneficial insects.
All these tasks will pay off in a few weeks, when we can harvest the first vegetables.
The gardening season has started! Let’s get out and green the world.
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These March reflections are part of a monthly practice of noticing what each season asks of us — and March asks quite a lot.
After months of rest and quiet preparation, transition is finally here: the snow retreating, the first crocuses pushing through, the days growing noticeably longer. In this article, I share how the sights, sounds, and feel of early spring — birdsong returning, sunlight warming your face, squirrels stirring — signal that it’s time to wake up alongside the garden.
The snow has (mostly) disappeared and been replaced by rain, and the first spring flowers like crocuses and snowflakes (the flowers, not the actual thing) begin to appear. The light is shifting, and finally, the days become perceptibly longer.
A promise of spring lies in the air.
I notice all of this before most people are awake since I start working pretty early, at 6 o’clock to be precise. Last week, I heard a bird singing before I went into the office, and I realised only then that I hadn’t heard birdsong for months! When the birds sing again, spring has stepped onto the stage.
Now is a wonderful time to go outside, even when it’s raining and the wind is blowing harshly. Yet there’s so much change out there that we can witness almost daily. Early blooms push through the soil, and squirrels look for their long-forgotten storage chambers.
This winter was particularly cold and long, but March has started with warm temperatures and sunshine, and I swear I’m a new person altogether. Just because those little beams of sunlight hit me, and the warmth makes me pull off my thick down jacket and replace it with a lighter version.
That shift isn’t just in me — step outside, and you can see it everywhere.
The Garden Awakens
With longer days and shifting light, the garden stirs back to life — slowly, almost shyly at first.
The soil may be wet and even still frozen on the surface, and it can be hard to see any change at all. But temperatures are slowly rising, and underneath, things are moving. Spring is advancing while winter still lingers.
On dry, sunny days, it’s worth pulling back the mulch from your garden beds and letting the soil soak up some warmth. Watch the buds on your trees and shrubs — they’re swelling, quietly promising to burst open, although the nights are still cold and even frosty. The garden is responding to both seasons at once. If you haven’t pruned yet, early March is often your last chance before new growth begins.
In ancient times, the Spring equinox was celebrated as the beginning of a New Year, which, in my opinion, makes much more sense than beginning a new year in the depths of winter. I’ve written about that in detail in my January reflections.
I can feel the energy of new beginnings and making plans. Yet, sometimes it’s necessary to remove some of the old stuff and make room for the new. While winter slowly leaves the stage, we prepare the space for spring. That’s why March is such a great month to declutter, organise and clean your home.
Declutter A Small Space
I know – I feel overwhelmed, too, when I hear the word declutter. The good news is, you can start small. Choose a drawer, for example. You know which one I mean: the one every household has where all the knick-knacks and stuff land that you don’t know where else to put, and where packets of hankies, dried-out pens and tiny plastic toys from the Kinder Egg wait to be rediscovered.
This is our drawer of doom. Posh on the outside, but chaotic within.
I like to spread everything out on the kitchen table, then sort through the stuff and throw away everything that’s broken or I don’t need anymore. Put the remaining stuff where it belongs, and only put back in the drawer what you really want to be there.
Spring Cleaning
I’m sorry to admit that I’m not a huge fan of cleaning. It feels tedious and pointless because dust and dirt will always find a way. On the other hand, I like my home to be clean. Contradictory, I know. But as the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey once said, women are perfectly entitled to be contrary — and she was rarely wrong about anything.
If you’re in for a good spring cleaning, grab a bucket of hot water and a cleaning cloth and get started. If it helps, listen to an audiobook while working on your new dust-free home (I love a good cosy crime, for example) or play some music, whatever helps you do the job. The reward of a deep-clean house and sparkling windows is waiting for you.
Prepare for the Garden Season
I can think best in a clean environment. Maybe that makes me a little like Monk, but that’s how my mind works. A good spring cleaning not only satisfies my eyes but also sets my creative motor in motion.
When the weather suddenly turns cold and wintry again after a few warm, sunny days, I sometimes feel like howling in misery! It sometimes feels like handing a child a bar of chocolate and then telling them they can’t have it.
In those moments of despair (yeah, sometimes I’m a real drama queen), I remind myself that March is a month of transition. It’s not clicking a button and voilà: spring is here all of a sudden.
March feels more like a dance between winter and spring. One day, spring has a solo and shows us all it has to offer; the next day, winter takes over the stage, putting on one last performance.
While spring gains strength, winter slowly loses its power. The times “on stage” diminish until the last farewell before it retreats completely until the end of the year.
This dance can feel surprisingly long, but we know that spring will stay in the end and take over again. In the meantime, let’s see what we can do for ourselves to keep our balance.
March Self-Care for Body…
I’ve started jogging again, and between jogging and long walks, I enjoy being outdoors no matter the weather.
Even if you don’t like jogging, spend some time outdoors. I particularly enjoy watching how nature awakens again. Crocuses and coltsfoot suddenly push through the soil, birds are singing, and the buds of trees and bushes start to swell. The progress is slow, but it is unmistakable.
In the evenings, however, I sometimes feel quite exhausted. Whether it’s the exercise, the shifting temperatures or simply spring fever, I couldn’t say. But no matter the reason, it’s important to be kind to oneself and learn to move with the season’s rhythm. Take a break when you need one, have a nap or simply go to bed early.
Learn from nature and don’t overdo it. Your strength will return soon enough, and the tiredness will be forgotten.
… For Mind…
March is a time when organising and planning become important to me. I love to have a clear vision of what I want to do in the garden, what new recipes to try with our vegetables and how to preserve my harvest. Many of these aspects are routine, of course, but I want to try out some new things every year, be it new vegetables or varieties, new recipes or even new preserving methods. While the garden is only beginning to wake, our ideas are already stepping forward.
March is also a good time to start new creative projects. Have you ever tried soapmaking, for example? In my section about Home & Body, you’ll find several easy soap recipes and instructions. It’s a wonderful beginner project if you enjoy working with natural ingredients.
In the evenings, though, I love retreating with a good book, especially when I feel I have been productive during the day. Let’s not forget the relaxing power of experiencing other lives through a well-written story.
… and Soul
For me, March is the perfect month for inviting people over. Where I was too self-absorbed in January, and I know I’ll become too outdoors-focused as soon as the outdoor gardening season begins in April, I now have both the energy and time to prepare luscious cakes for a tea party or cook a wonderful meal for an evening dinner with friends.
For these gatherings, I often decorate our home with flowers as a sign that spring is entering the house. It doesn’t matter that they’re store-bought; they bring a touch of spring into our home and our spirits.
If you want to invite guests over, why not do so on the Spring equinox, the moment when day and night are perfectly balanced? You could celebrate the ancient New Year and even start a new tradition. Or simply light a candle for yourself and the new season with all its promises.
While March brings the promise of spring and new beginnings, it can sometimes feel harsh and cold. Just remember that it’s a time of transition where winter and spring find themselves in a dance. One day, spring leads, the next winter takes over.
If nothing else, March teaches us patience. We know that winter will retreat eventually and spring will take its place. Let’s observe nature’s rhythm and take it as our model. Learning to move with that rhythm is part of seasonal living.
In the meantime, let us enjoy every new flower that blooms, birdsong in the early morning, or tea with friends. These are signs that spring is slowly taking the lead.
