April is such an amazing month at the Food Gardening Network headquarters. Everywhere I look I see the brilliant pinks, yellows, greens, and purples of fresh grass, tulips, dandelions, and other flowers. The air is alive with the songs of bluebirds, cardinals, and chickadees. My thyme and sage are both already flourishing. And the rest of the garden is a gift, with early spring vegetables waiting to be enjoyed in a few short weeks. My mouth is already watering just thinking about fresh, tender asparagus on the grill!

It’s hard to express the excitement that this part of the year holds. I know my fellow gardeners understand. That’s why you’re here, right! The April edition of Food Gardening Magazine is blooming with the joy of spring. This issue includes five feature articles, three close-ups on some favorite spring vegetables, our special Fruit and Berries recipe card kit, in-depth gardening guides, and, naturally, some fab recipes!

Here’s a look at what’s ahead in this issue of Food Gardening Magazine.

Food Gardening with Amanda articles—Food Gardening Network’s Senior Editor and Producer Amanda MacArthur is one fabulous food gardener! She’s always cooking, planting, or experimenting in the garden. Better yet, most of her content includes companion videos to show you, not just tell you, exactly what to do. Check out these helpful articles from Amanda this month:

• 5 Things to Plant in April: Spring is the perfect time to plant these cool-weather fruits and vegetables.
• Top Planted of 2024: What Our Community is Planting This Year: What is the Food Gardening Network community planting in the garden this year? What’s getting left out of the garden? It’s no surprise that tomatoes top the list of favorite vegetables to grow, but guess where hot peppers are on the list! Find out what’s hot and what’s not in the garden this year.
• How to Build a Raised Lettuce Garden: A raised bed can help keep your leafy greens free of pests and disease, plus they look great. This DIY project is easy and it’s also a great way to economize on space.
• How to Make Natural Dyes from Vegetables: If you’ve peeled beets, you know that brilliant red makes a stunning dye. But did you know you can also make dyes from golden beets, spinach, red cabbage, carrots, and more? 
• The Sound of Corn Growing: This article comes from our sister publication, GreenPrints Magazine. In this story, writer Iris E. May reminds us that if we slow down enough and listen, we really can hear corn growing.
• Fruits & Berries Garden-to-Table Recipe Card Kit: Don’t miss this Food Gardening Network exclusive! Get more than 20 recipes that highlight the fresh flavors of fruits and berries straight from your garden. Plus, explore 10 different berries, from blackberries to boysenberries to honeyberries, to determine which ones you might want to grow.
• 10 Prettiest Flowering Vegetables and Herbs: Flowering vegetables not only make your garden pretty, but they also offer a delectable taste experience. They truly represent the perfect blend of aesthetics and functionality, providing both visual delight and culinary satisfaction.

And this issue of Food Gardening Magazine includes details on three featured foods this month—concurrently with publishing this issue of our magazine, we’re also publishing and updating three gardening guides on peas, lettuce, and zucchini. As a premium member of Food Gardening Network, you get full access to the magazine and these gardening guides:

Peas: When winter lingers and you’re longing to start your garden, it’s peas to the rescue! You can direct sow this cold-weather crop as soon as the ground can be worked and reaches 45 degrees F. To learn more, check out The Easy Peasy Guide to Growing Pea Plants: All You Need to Know About Growing, Harvesting, Cooking, and Eating Delicious Peas.

Lettuce: You can grow lettuce anywhere with mild days and cool nights; in fact, you can even grow it in space! This cool-weather crop is a sure-fire way to enjoy fresh greens for months on end. Find out more about growing this crunchy delight in Leafy Lettuce!

Zucchini: Zucchini is fairly easy to grow, requiring little more than the usual water maintenance and pest and disease vigilance. Learn more about this tasty, prolific vegetable in The Zucchini Gardening Guide!

In this edition of Food Gardening Magazine, you’ll find Gardening Guide Close-Ups that focus on peas, lettuce, and summer squash to help get you started with these three foods and our gardening guides. These articles give you valuable tips and advice about these three foods, and you’ll have instant access to the premium gardening guides themselves, too. Be first to read these Gardening Guide Close-Ups and get a head start on how to grow and use these foods:

• The Best Way to Grow Peas (and 3 of the Best Peas to Grow): Fresh from the pod they are sweet little early spring treats. Or they can be late-season treats when the rest of your garden is finishing up for the season. That’s one of the nice things about peas–they grow relatively quickly and they tolerate cool weather just fine, so you can usually get two plantings in if you want. But what is the best way to plant peas?
• Different Types of Lettuce By Flavor: Explore the range of flavors in this easy-growing leafy green, from peppery arugula to floral Butterhead and more. 
• How to Slice and Zoodle Your Zucchinis: A couple of zucchini plants in your garden means you’ll have about three tons of zucchinis (okay, maybe not three tons, but plenty, for sure). So it’s helpful to have a few different ways to prepare this vegetable, and none are more fun than zoodles!

And then there are the recipes you’ll find in these gardening guides! Here are just two of my favorites that are tasty, unique, and easy to make:

• Double Pea and Feta Salad: This simple and delicious salad brings a celebration of different flavors to your table. The peas and mint are a classic duo that blend perfectly with the creamy, tangy flavor of Feta cheese.
• Grilled Garden Romaine: I still remember the first time I hade grilled Romaine. It’s such a creative take on salad, and, for me, really brings out the sweetness of the Romaine lettuce.

We’re also happy to announce there’s a new tab on our site for Gardening Kits! This is where Gold Members will find:

• Printable Garden Planning Calendar Kits
• Printable Garden Planning Kits
• Printable Recipe Card Kits

Check them out now, and download your favorites!

I hope you enjoy the April 2024 issue of Food Gardening Magazine as much as we’ve enjoyed growing it. We’re so happy to have you here! Now let’s get into the garden!

Happy harvesting—and happy eating!

Christy Page
Editor & Publisher

P.S. Please enjoy this issue of Food Gardening Magazine, and let me know what you think about it by commenting below with your feedback! Your input is valuable to us and can help us make improvements.