What to Plant in April in Nevada County — and How to Get Your Beds Ready Right Now
Cool Season Vegetables: Kale, Greens, Spinach from Seeds and Starts in Grass Valley
I was out in the beds yesterday morning pulling winter weeds and adding a fresh layer of compost, and found a handful of grubs tucked into the cool soil. The earth smelled like fresh, damp soil after a spring rain — that particular smell that tells you something is about to happen out there.
If you've been feeling the pull to get outside and do something in your garden, that feeling is right on time. April is one of the most important planting months in the Sierra foothills, and if you know what to put in the ground and when, this is the month that sets up your entire season.
Here's what that actually looks like for Nevada County.
Get your beds ready first.
Before anything goes in the ground, the bed needs to be ready to receive it. That means pulling any winter weeds, turning in a few inches of compost, and checking your soil temperature. In the foothills in early April, soil is still cool to the touch — and that's fine for what we're planting right now. Cool soil is exactly what cool-season crops want.
If you're adding new soil or amendment, do it now before you plant. Trying to amend around established seedlings is awkward and less effective. A bed that's been turned, fed, and left to settle for even a few days will grow better than one that was planted the same afternoon you amended it.
What goes in now.
Early April in Nevada County is cool-season territory. These are your crops: lettuce, spinach, kale, chard, arugula, snap peas, and brassicas like broccoli and cabbage if you're starting from transplants. All of these love the cool mornings and mild afternoons we have right now. They'll be ready to harvest before the heat arrives, and they're forgiving — if you're newer to gardening, these are exactly what you want to start with.
Direct sow your salad greens and peas — they go straight into the bed from seed. Everything else does better from starts you pick up at your local nursery. April’s Garden in Grass Valley and Fresh Starts Organics in Nevada City both have good selections right now.
What waits until May.
Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, beans, basil — none of these go in until our nights are reliably warm, which in the Western Sierra foothills means early May at the earliest. I know the nursery racks are full of tomato starts right now. Leave them there for another few weeks. A tomato planted in warm soil in May will outperform one planted in cold soil in March every single time.
If you want a month-by-month breakdown of exactly what to plant and when here in Nevada County, I put together a free Planting Guide built specifically for our climate. It takes the guesswork completely off the table.
→ Grab your free Nevada County Planting Guide here
And if you'd like a second set of eyes on your specific yard — the sun, the space, the soil — book a free 20-minute call to talk through whether working together is the right fit for you.
Ellie is a third-generation kitchen gardener, Certified Garden Coach, and Permaculture Design Consultant with 25 years of growing in Western Nevada County. She tends a one-acre homestead in Grass Valley with her two cats, chickens, and honeybees. She can also be found volunteering in her community as a Master Gardener of Nevada County.
Her work is rooted in a simple belief — that every woman who grows her own food carries that knowledge forward into her home, her community, and the next generation.
If you're ready to carry that knowledge forward in your own backyard, she'd love to help you get started.
