April
Plant out spring vegetables.
Plant out cool-weather crops around the time of your last frost date: cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, and lettuce. Direct-sow kale, mustard, lettuce, radishes, turnips, beets, and other similar crops. If you haven’t already, sow peas, broad beans, potatoes, and onions.
Harden off vegetables.
Once the nights are above fifty degrees Fahrenheit, begin to harden off summer plants like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and the like.
Watch for frosts and freezes.
Climate change makes last frost dates more unpredictable. Our last frost date may be late March one year and late May another. If you have plants in the garden now, keep an eye out for frosts and freezes, and protect plants that need it with horticultural fleece, plastic, cloches, or just plain old sheets and blankets.
Don’t cut back spring bulbs.
Like daffodils, other spring bulbs (tulips, hyacinth, crocus) are harmed if the foliage is cut back now. Let the foliage die back on its own. This isn’t the prettiest look, so if it bothers you, it’s OK to lift the entire bulb, foliage and all, and replant it someplace out of the way. Tulips are particularly notorious for not returning to bloom year after year. It’s a good idea to lift tulip bulbs into a pot and leave them to die back on their own. Later in the summer, remove the bulbs from the pot and only save the largest ones to replant in the fall. Compost the others, or plant them somewhere where you’ll not miss out if they don’t come up again.
Weed.
Oh, God, it begins. Keep on top of weeds now, while they’re tiny and small, and save yourself some effort later in the year. Don’t let them win. That’s what they want.
Clean birdfeeders and bird baths.
Thoroughly clean bird feeders and put them away for the summer. Clean and refill bird baths.
Expect chicks or other baby livestock.
Spring is the typical time for animal births. It’s good timing, usually, given the warming weather at the critical stage of birth and infancy. We picked up our chicks in April, and depending on your plans for your homestead, you can find other baby animals this time of year, too. In my area, I can commonly find lambs, piglets, calves, ducklings, goslings and rabbits. Be sure that you’re ready to accommodate the fully-grown animal from the outset; they’ll grow faster than you expect. Be ready from day one.