Finally, spring can get rolling now! The water is flowing where the snow is melting, and the grass is getting green. There's a reason for that.

April 1 2025

Here's what's happening here at the homestead this month. If you ever wondered why the grass always greens up in the spring, even if you didn't fertilize it, here's why; Check out the page on snow as fertilizer . It might surprise you but it makes total sense when you think about it. So the deeper the snow, the better the Nitrogen fix for early springtime growth. Now you don't feel so bad about all those snow days!

April is a good time to get some of those early plantings sown indoors and out. Peas don't mind chilly temperatures and the threat of rain, so get those into the ground - don't plant them indoors, transplanting them just delays their growth and in trials, outdoor seeding beat the ones seeded indoors all to heck; better growth, no transplant shock, and earlier blooming.

Other things to get going now are brassicas, onions and greens of all kinds, including lettuce, mesclun and kale.

For indoor seeding, use only sterilized potting soil. The best seed starting soil is pasteurized so it has no pathogens or viruses, or nasty things like fungus gnats. It's more expensive to buy or to prepare yourself, but the extra cost or time and energy will be worth it.