What to plant in April in Finland
14 vegetables, fruits and herbs to sow or plant in April in Finland, for the climate around Helsinki area, Uusimaa, Finland.
Climate: A cold northern climate with a short growing season: frosts from roughly October to May, winter minima near -18 °C, mild summers around 12-22 °C, and fairly even rainfall with a wetter autumn.
Vegetables
Pea Pisum sativum
Hardy seedlings tolerate light spring frosts and cool weather, and the long days give sweet, tender pods.
Harvest: 60-70 daysEasyCare guide →
Spinach Spinacia oleracea
It thrives in cool spring and autumn temperatures and bolts less in long northern days than in heat.
Harvest: 40-50 daysEasyIn potsCare guide →
Radish Raphanus sativus
Its fast crop fits the short spring and late summer windows between frosts.
Harvest: 25-35 daysEasyIn pots
Onion Allium cepa
Hardy sets planted in April or May mature before the autumn rains and store well.
Harvest: 100-120 days from setsEasyIn potsCare guide →
Rhubarb Rheum rhabarbarum
A perennial that survives the coldest winters and returns every spring, needing only sun and rich soil.
Harvest: 1-2 yearsEasy
Broad bean Vicia faba
Hardy varieties sown in spring tolerate cold soil and yield well before the summer heat.
Harvest: 80-100 daysEasy
Fruits
Redcurrant Ribes rubrum
Very hardy bushes survive -30 °C winters and need the cool summers to set fruit.
Harvest: 2-3 yearsEasy
Blackcurrant Ribes nigrum
It is among the hardiest fruit crops and thrives on the long cool summers and wet autumns.
Harvest: 2-3 yearsEasy
Raspberry Rubus idaeus
Canes survive the winter minima, and the summer warmth ripens the berries in July.
Harvest: 1-2 yearsEasyCare guide →
Apple Malus domestica
Cold-hardy apple trees on dwarfing rootstock survive winter lows and need warm summer days to ripen fruit.
Harvest: 3-5 yearsModerateCare guide →
Haskap Lonicera caerulea
This shrub is extremely hardy, flowers after frost, and fruits well in the cool northern summer.
Harvest: 2-3 yearsEasy
Sea buckthorn Hippophae rhamnoides
A native-style shrub that tolerates extreme cold and poor soil, and needs a male and a female plant to fruit.
Harvest: 3-4 yearsModerate
Herbs
Chives Allium schoenoprasum
A hardy perennial that regrows each spring and tolerates the frost.
Harvest: 60-70 days from seedEasyIn potsCare guide →
Lovage Levisticum officinale
A very hardy perennial that comes back year after year in the cold climate.
Harvest: 2 years from seedEasy