I don't know how it's been where you are but here in Devon it's been one of the wettest springs we've ever had. It feels like it hasn't stopped raining for months.

It does look like we are due a few dry days in the not-too-distant future but I won't hold my breath!

April is a great time to sow seeds, both direct in the soil and under cover. Read on for some tips or click the link below to browse seeds to sow now.

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Top 5 crops to sow now

​Lettuce

April is the ideal time to sow lettuce. You may have already sown a batch and if so then it's probably a good time to sow a second batch to keep you in constant supply of delicious salad throughout the summer months. Our best selling varieties are:

• ​Wild Garden Mix - an eclectic mix of great varieties, to cover many bases
• ​Maureen - which is a classic little gem variety, packed full of epic crunchy sweetness
• ​Grenoble Red - which is classically grown as a winter variety due to its cold hardiness, but it will grow happily in the summer too

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​Cucumbers​

Whether you're going to plant them inside our out, April is a good time to sow cucumbers. If being planted outside they should be kept undercover until all danger of frost has passed as they are very sensitive to cold. Our best sellers are:

• ​Marketmore - which is a very old variety, equally happy grown up trellis in the polytunnel or sprawling across the ground outside
• ​Crystal Lemon - which is an unusual yellow variety producing small round fruits resembling lemons, these do much better left to their own devices than being trained up strings which they do not like

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​Carrots​

Carrots should always be direct-sown as they will grow forked roots if their delicate taproot is broken, and now the soil has warmed a bit it's a good time to sow them as they will germinate fairly quickly (see below for direct-sowing tips). Our best-selling carrots are:

• ​Nantes - a classic French workhorse variety, very productive and equally delicious
• ​Lila Lu - this a modern variety and new to our catalogue this year. It has been bred specifically for use in organic growing conditions. It is a real show-stopper, with dark purple outside and bright orange inside. The purple comes from a high amount of anthocyanin, a powerful anti-oxidant present in many purple foods.
• ​Autumn King - another old orange 'main crop' variety, producing deliciously sweet and tender roots which maintain their texture even when they are as thick as a horse's leg! For this reason it's still used in commercial production as a variety for the processing industry, despite the prevalence of F1 hybrids.

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​Courgettes​

A summer staple - now is a great time to sow a first wave of courgettes (a second can be sown in 6 weeks' time to keep you going into the autumn).

Sowing and planting as per cucumbers above - except we do not recommend planting courgettes inside as they do not need it, as covered space is valuable. Our best-selling varieties are:

• ​Black Beauty - also called 'Nero di Milano' this classic variety originates from Italy (as the name suggests) and is our best-selling variety. It does what it says on the tin.
• ​Cocozelle - this is our personal favourite courgette with beautiful dark and light green stripes. Extremely productive and tasty!
• ​Solara - new to us in 2023, this has become a favourite and best-seller; it's a modern variety producing an abundance of yellow fruits over long period.

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​Basil

King of summer herbs, there is nothing that beats the punchy and zesty taste of basil. If I could only live on four things during the summer they would be basil, tomato, courgette and kale. There are so many different types of basil out there, it's really worth branching out and trying some of the more exotic types. Our favourites are:

• ​Sweet Genovese - this is the classic green basil which we all know and love, add it to pretty much anything to make it sing!
• ​Red - as the name suggests, a very dark red/purple alternative to the above, with a similar taste
• ​Thai - if you are a fan of Asian cooking this is the basil for you! I like chucking a good handful into my ramen soups and it really adds such a delicious fragrant hit.
• ​Lemon - this my favourite basil for adding to salads, it has a lovely zingy lemony flavour (as you might imagine). You'll never find it in the shops as it doesn't store or travel well, so must be picked straight from the plant

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Tips for direct-sowing seeds

If you can get onto your soil to prepare it yet, many things can be sown directly in the soil such as beetroot, carrots, chard, cauliflower, kohlrabi, lettuce, leeks, radish, turnip, spring onions, peas and perpetual spinach.

As a result of having less control over conditions, direct-sowing can be less reliable than raising plants in pots or modules, but there are a few things which will help increase your success with this method.

• Make sure that the soil has a nice 'tilth'. This means it should be very fine and crumbly and not rough with big clumps. This will help the seed have good contact with the soil and give a nice texture for the seedlings' roots to grow into.
• Always sow into weed-free soil. Some seeds can be slow to germinate and grow compared to their weedy cousins, and can therefore get swamped by weeds very fast if you are not vigilant. Onions and leeks are particularly susceptible to weed-pressure and simply will not grow if they are competing with weeds while very small.
• Mix some quick-germinating seeds such as radish in with slower ones such as carrots so you can tell where the rows are and weed more easily and sooner.
• If you have space you can sow a few seeds in pots/modules at the same time as direct-sowing and then fill in any gaps which you might have.
• Slugs can be an issue with direct-sown seeds, especially if there has been a lot of rain, so do anything that you can to keep them at bay such as removing nearby habitats (long grass, weeds, logs etc)

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Happy sowing, and let's hope that we feel the warmth of the sun on us soon!

Fred, Ronja, and the rest of the team

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P.S. Massive thanks to everyone who has left us a review on Trustpilot, we really appreciate it and are touched by all of the positive feedback :)