April is a busy time in the garden! So much to do and longer days for doing. Dream big and do what you can.

If you are reading this, you probably have a garden; either well-loved, benignly neglected, or somewhere in between. If you do not have a garden, read on, and get inspired to start one.

April 21 is technically our last frost date, so it’s likely to be safe to plant after that.

Vashon-Maury has many microclimates and soils. It’s important to know where your garden is in relation to sun, wind, high ground or low, sandy, loamy or clay soil. Before prepping your garden, prep your body! Stretch your back, shoulders, and hamstrings. These muscles have much work to do!

First, loosen your soil with a broad fork, garden fork, or shovel and grab a big handful. Do you see worms and other wiggly creatures? Does it smell deliciously earthy? I find this seemingly insignificant exercise both inspiring and informative. If the soil clumps together tightly, it may still be too wet. If it falls apart like biscuit batter, your soil is ready to grow food, flowers, herbs — whatever you wish. You may consider adding compost and some organic fertilizer. The possibilities for soil amendments are endless and there are many resources and opinions available.

Stinging Nettles are coming up fast and furious so now is a good time to start your stinky-good nettle tea plant food. Nettle tea is loaded with potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and trace minerals. Wearing your garden gloves, take a 5-gallon bucket and chop as many nettles into it as you can. Fill it nearly to the top with water and cover it. Give it a good stir every day and in a week or two or three it will have a rich stink. Dilute one part stink to five parts water and feed your plants once a week or so. You can do the same with comfrey, manure, and your compost.

If you have a compost bin, turn it, if you have not done so already. If you do not have a compost bin, consider starting one for leaves, twiggy pieces, and garden refuse. It does not have to be fancy; a wire fence circle with some T posts or a four-pallet square is easy and inexpensive. If you put a cover on it, you will help keep it from getting too wet.

April is a good month for direct sowing peas, lettuce and other salad greens, beets, and marigolds. Covering your seeds with fabric row cover will help keep the birds and squirrels from eating them or the little seedlings as they emerge. Later in April, you can direct seed cucumbers, winter squash and zucchini.

Do not be fooled into planting your tomatoes too soon! Consider purchasing your tomato starts from Vashon’s own Pacific Potager or Langley Fine Gardens, but wait ‘til about mid-May or when the soil is above 50°F.

Speaking of seeds and starts…

As it is important to know where your food comes from, it is equally important to know where your seeds come from.

When you grow seeds from your local environment, you create locally adapted varieties of those plants. Each area presents its own unique factors of humidity, temperature, disease, pests, and soil composition. In turn, each variety of plant can be adapted for those specific factors.

The more generations a plant’s seeds are grown and saved in the same region, the better and healthier that plant will grow in that specific area and the more locally adapted it will be. If we want food that is climate-resilient, we need to put in the work to increase biodiversity in plants.

On Vashon, we are fortunate to have Jen Williams’ Wild Dreams Farm growing seeds for our Vashon climate. Find out more at wilddreamfarm.org.

Also, check out Uprising Seeds in Bellingham, Washington, at uprisingorganics.com, and Adaptive Seeds, in Sweet Home, Oregon, at adaptiveseeds.com.

No matter your seed or starts choice, plan your slug control! Slugs love dark, cool, and wet. Lay some boards down, go out in the morning, and discover all the slugs waiting to be snipped, speared, and squished. Beer bait also works. There are some among us who are quite happy hand-picking and dispatching slugs. Every slug we eliminate also eliminates hundreds of slug eggs.

Most important, start wherever you are and enjoy your garden! Eat what you grow, cut flowers for your table, and share your abundance.

Here are some more helpful references:

• Michelle Crawford, Pacific Potager Farm & Nursery. Search Pacific Potager, on Facebook
• TILTH Alliance Maritime Northwest Garden Guide (2014). Order at tilthalliance.org
• Vashon Island Grower’s Association’s (VIGA) “Get Growing” video here.
• Charles Dowding’s informative website, about his garden in England, which has a climate similiar to Vashon’s.
• Georgie Newbery, and Common Farm Flowers, at commonfarmflowers.com.

Karen Biondo is a farmer, caterer and member of VIGA’s Food Access Partnership, “Island farmers feeding island neighbors.” Visit her website at labiondofarm.com. This commentary is part of the Whole Vashon Project’s ongoing “Green Briefs” series.