What to plant in April for your Texas Kitchen Garden

April is such a month of magic if you are growing a small-scale raised bed vegetable garden in central Texas. Austin area kitchen gardeners see reliably warmer days and overnight lows safely above freezing. Tomato and pepper season is officially here!

April is also an important month because it’s a month to get a bunch done. Many things you do not want to put off, because we are also starting the countdown clock to the true summer heat. And if you have a garden that gets more than 9 hours of direct sun, our summer heat will do a number on your plants. You want to be sure certain plants are in the soil early enough and mature enough to produce their delicious fruit before that heat sets in!

The highlights of this month are definitely the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.

Growing tomatoes in central Texas:

Tomatoes should be planted when the bluebonnets are blooming! Not before, and for best results, not when they start dying off. Tomatoes need well-draining soil and at least 6 hours of direct sunlight. Plant near a basil or thyme to increase flavor. Always use organic fertilizer and feed them about once a month. Know whether you are planting indeterminate or determinate tomatoes, because the indeterminate ones grow very large and need a large trellis. They are best for the home gardener who wants to eat fresh. If you are canning and would like an all-at-once bumber crop to make sauces and salsa, a determinate variety might be best for you. You can plant your tomatoes very deep, much deeper than they are in their small container, which helps build that strong main stem they’ll need to support many large fruit later. Remove lower leaves that would be under the soil and plant them to they have about 2-3 strong leaves about the soil.

Homegrown, organic peppers:

The reasons to grow your own peppers in Texas are abundant! First off, the taste is tons better than you find in the store-bought varieties. Also there are certain varieties you may not find in the store that are very easy to grow at home, especially some particular hot peppers and specialty peppers such as shishito peppers. Yum! Not only that, but the nutrient density from homegrown organic peppers is higher than in those trucked in and stored for a week before they see the grocery shelves. And they are so easy to plant and grow! One tip I like to encourage home growers, is that the larger the pepper, the larger you want to grow your plant so it has the long, strong stems and many leaves to support it growing those heavy peppers. One way to do this is to trim the first buds, blooms, and especially peppers you see growing on the young plant. This is so hard to do! But you want the plant spending energy growing bigger before it starts to produce fruit, that way to get more, bigger fruit later. For bell peppers for example, I will not allow flowers to bloom until the plant is at least 2ft tall.

The mighty summer cucumber:

To grow your own cucumbers in Texas, you have to keep in mind a few key things; first, they get really large; second, they are always better harvested too early than too late, and finally, you’ve got to know what you grow - slicing versus pickling.

Homegrown cucumber plants get really big. They can easily get to 10 feet tall or more. The best way to support them, reduce pests and disease and make the most out of your limited planting space is to use a very large trellis. I personally love growing cucumbers over an arch.

Cucumbers will not stop growing. There is no prize for “largest cucumber.” The larger they get, the more natural sugars they lose and their taste will become very bitter. It’s important to know which variety you are growing (some should be 6 inches, some 8, etc.) and be sure you harvest them at that size. A few days early is much better than a week late.

Not all cucumbers are pickles! Or, they should not be expected to be. “Pickling” cucumbers are a particular cultivar bred for the preservation process and you will get the best Greek salad ingredients by choosing “slicing” cukes and the best pickles by growing cukes meant for that.

So what else can you plant in April in Texas? So much! Here’s my list:

Plant by seed: Beans, snap and lima, Cantaloupe, Chard, Corn, Cucumber, Kale, Marigolds, Okra, Oregano, Peppers, Pumpkin, Rosemary, Sage, Southern Peas, Summer Squash, Sweet Potato (as slips), Thyme, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watermelon, Winter Squash, Zinnias.

Plant by transplant (a baby plant that grows in a 4'“ pot): Basil, Cantaloupe, Chard, Chives, Cilantro, Cucumber, Dill, Eggplant, Fennel, Kale, Leeks, Marigolds, Mint, Okra, Oregano, Parsley, Peppers, Rosemary, Sage, Strawberries, Summer Squash, Thyme, Tomatoes, Watermelon, Winter Squash, and Zinnias.

This is such a wonderful time of year to be out in the garden. I hope you enjoy it. :-)