April Warmth

Warm weather means one thing to herbs and leafy greens, time to bolt!
In the plants’ natural cycle to survive, it will set seeds when the growing conditions are far from optimal, and 37 degrees Celsius is very far. So when it gets too warm for these plants they start to flower, and with this, their flavor will turn bitter. Bolting is the final stage in the plant’s life cycle, this is why gardeners try to prevent bolting to prolong their harvest.

Bolting can be good, like these mustard flowers, because their scent attracted lady bugs and lacewings, which help take care of the aphid problem I recently got.

Swiss Chard, and Dinosaur Kale, have both been doing really well despite the heat, so I again recommend both plants to grow next season!

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Some of my parsley is bolting.

And so has spinach.

Mint, however, is doing better in the heat than it did all season!