Finally we can get our more tender seedlings and plants outside and enjoy the warmth of spring! Everything should start shooting up now and there are loads of things to do in the food garden in May. Keep an eye on the weather forecast though and be ready to get the fleece out again if temperatures should drop.
Here’s a list of jobs to be thinking about for the food garden in May:
- Continue sowing seeds undercover (beans, sweetcorn, sweet peppers, chilli peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines, pumpkin, courgette, squash, celery, salads, basil, chives, parsley, dill, chervil, coriander, fennel, mint, oregano, tarragon, rosemary, thyme, sorrel)
- Pot up or plant up seedlings when they develop their true leaves
- Sow seeds outdoors (early and maincrop potatoes, beetroot, perpetual spinach, spinach, kale, cabbage, broccoli, kohl rabi, carrots, chard, peas, radish, leeks, pumpkins, squash, sweetcorn, beans, cauliflower, lettuce, rocket, parsnips, turnips, swede, Brussels sprouts)
- Plant out courgettes, squash, beans, shallots, onion sets, garlic, Jerusalem artichoke tubers, asparagus crowns, wild strawberries, strawberries, young fruit trees and bushes
- Earth up potatoes so that they never form above the surface of the soil
- Net brassicas to protect from pigeons
- Support broad beans that were sown last autumn to stop them breaking in the wind
- Make supports for peas and beans
- Protect carrots from carrot root fly with mesh
- Pick off slugs and snails
- Pinch out broad bean tips as soon as beans start to appear to reduce risk of blackfly
- Thin out any direct-sown vegetable seedlings
Place collars around the stems of brassicas to deter cabbage root fly - Dig out/hoe/strim/mulch unwanted weeds to weaken them and stop them going to seed later on and spreading
- Feed your compost heap with all appropriate waste materials. Aim for an equal mix of nitrogen-rich green materials and carbon-rich brown materials. Turn every one or two weeks. Check to see if you have any compost that is ready to use
- Divide clumps of hardy herbs
- Mulch fruit trees, nut trees, raspberries, blueberries, and perennials (such as asparagus, rhubarb and artichokes). Don’t mulch up too high
- Ensure plants are well watered in prolonged dry periods.
- Watch out for early signs of any pests and diseases and treat them before they get out of control. Look out for gooseberry sawfly caterpillar and asparagus beetle and remove if found
- Harvest purple sprouting broccoli, rhubarb, spring onion, walking onions, spring cabbage, asparagus, radish, chard, leeks, kale, sorrel, wild garlic, three cornered leek
- Enjoy edible weeds now when they are at their most tender