May 03, 2008
Some gardeners are enjoying fresh lettuce, radishes and peas from your vegetable garden this month while others are just starting to plant. May is usually the month that it gets warm enough to plant all your heat loving vegetables.
YOUR MAY TO DO LIST
- Successive sow vegetables.
By planting a few feet or a few transplants of lettuce, spinach, salad greens, carrots and radishes every few weeks you can be eating these all summer long. - Keep a journal
Keeping track of what, where and when you plant your vegetables you can stay more organized and have a more successful garden. I have always kept track of what a do in my own garden and this year I decided it was time to create my own journal. " My 2008 Vegetable Garden Journal " is now available for purchase. - Hill your potatoes.
Pull up extra soil around the young shoots of your potato plants. This is usually done once the potato plant reaches about a foot high. Draw up the soil from around the plant and covering all of it except for the top 3 or 4 inches. This gives the tubers protection from the sun so they do not turn green. - Sow corn, beans and squash.
Once the soil temperature has warmed up (you need at least one week of temperatures over 20 degrees Celsius)you can start sowing your corn, bean and squash seeds. These vegetable seeds will not germinate if the soil is too cold and damp. Succession sow these vegetables as well every few weeks into early June for a longer harvest. - Set out heat loving vegetable transplants.
When I say heat loving vegetables I mean tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumber, zucchini and the herb basil. Usually the middle or towards the end of May is warm enough in the northern climates to set these transplants outside. They still may need some protection if the nights still get cool. - Fertilize young plants.
It is important for young transplants to get a great start. By giving them organic fertilizers such as fish fertilizer, liquid seaweed or making your own fertilizer tea will help them get established. These fertilizers are great for giving plants a boost when they are starting to flower or fruit as well. In " My 2008 Vegetable Garden Journal " you will find easy to follow instruction on when is the best time to fertilize your vegetables.VEGETABLES OF THE MONTH
Beans come in bush or pole varieties. Bush beans include green beans, yellow wax beans and now there is a variety that is purple. Pole beans need to be staked and come in lots of varieties.
Here are my tips for growing great beans:
- These can be seeded directly or transplanted into the garden.
- Beans grow best in warm temperatures.
- Most beans are sensitive to frost except fava beans.
- Do not water your bean seeds until they sprout, then water regularly when they are growing.
- Harvest every few days so they will produce more.
- Harvest pole or runner beans with scissors so you do not damage the plant.
- Young beans, before they fill out too much are often more tasty.
- Plant a few extra seeds and keep them for saving the seeds in the fall to plant next year.
Squash are a family of vegetables which include cucumbers, zucchini, winter squashes. These vegetables need warm sunny weather to grow their best.
Here are my tips for growing great squash:
- These can be grown from seed or transplants.
- Wait until the weather is warm to sow or transplant.
- Plants need regular watering.
- Mulch to conserve water.
- Some varieties need trellising to prevent fruit from touching the ground and rotting.
- Harvest with a sharp knife leaving an inch or so of stem on the fruit. The fruit will keep longer and the plant will not get damaged.
Learn more about growing tips for all these veggies .
May is a month where you can start harvesting and enjoy eating some of your veggies. Check in with www.your-vegetable-gardening-helper.com for the simplest steps to having your own vegetables.
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Welcome to the world of vegetable gardening!
Catherine