April is the month to plant early vegetables that thrive in cool weather. This applies to both seed grown crops–such as peas and spinach–as well as crops started in trays such as bok choi and lettuce. These vegetables love the ample moisture of spring and are unfazed by freezing temperatures. In many cases these crops reach maturity in about 60 days and, following harvest, a summer crop can be planted in the same patch.

Cool weather vegetables are happily free of the pests that appear later in the season. Slugs and earwigs are still overwintering in the ground and are not yet chewing tender leaves. Flea beetles don’t emerge until early May and by the time that they start feeding, early-season plants are sufficiently mature to withstand the damage.