In the Garden - MAY

Happy May everybody! May is an interesting month here in the UP. For those of you who are new to the area, prepare to see unexpected snowstorms, to 80 degree days and everything in between! Hopefully, you all have something growing in your beds or in pots on your decks already in the form of cold weather crops like spinach, chard, kale, and lettuce. AND, you have row covers or some sort of protection for them in case of unexpected cold snaps.

As we move into the month of May, things start moving very quickly in the garden. Because of the chance of random snow showers, or below zero night temps, I have cold frames over all the beds right now. My peas are already in and are starting to peek their heads out of the ground. Spinach, chard, and the lettuce is growing nicely in beds. This is the month that everything else goes into the garden, but not until the end of the month. And hard as it is to believe, the first frosts can come as early as late August, so for those vegetables with a longer growing season like your tomatoes and squash, they need to go into the garden this month, with protection, of course!

Every year around this time, I go to the garden centers to get supplies like shade cloth for hoops or amendments for my soil and I see hundreds of people grabbing all those beautiful, colorful flowers and trays of veggies. It always makes me cringe a little, because I know that they are off to spend a day planting in the gardens and invariably, an unexpected spring snow will come and kill everything. PLEASE, do not plant ANYTHING that is not frost tolerant in your gardens until after Mother’s Day. To be extra safe, you can wait until between the 15’th and the 30’th. The weather here is so unpredictable and I’d hate to see you lose all your new seedlings you’ve been watching grow under the lights.

So tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, beans, and squashes will all be going in this month. Hopefully, you have already prepared your soil and made all the amendments to it. I personally use the square foot method in raised beds, so my soil isn’t compacted, and I have very little hoeing to do in the spring.

If you're like me, you love the feel of the fresh earth. Unfortunately, this can leave your hands a mess! I go to the drug store every year and invest in a box of rubber gloves. Gardening gloves are just too bulky for me and I can't feel the soil or the seeds in my hands. Rubber gloves are the perfect choice for me. And for those little cuts, scrapes or just the dryness, get some Ancient Healers' Salve or Comfrey/Calendula Salve from the Apothecary!

Hopefully, you have planned out your gardens on graph paper as suggested in an earlier post and have taken into consideration companion planting to naturally ward off garden pests. Onions, garlic, marigolds, and nasturtiums are all pest deterrents and add some color, as well as a variety of textures and height to the vegetable garden. Also, remember that some plants don’t play well together so they should be planted in a different bed or container. Tomatoes should not be planted next to anything in the Cabbage or Brassica family. This would include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collards, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, rutabaga, and turnip. Also Corn if you’re planting it because the corn earworm is the same as the tomato fruitworm. Potatoes don’t play well with anyone, so I usually plant them in a half whiskey barrel so they can be alone. I also don’t plant peppers or eggplant near my tomatoes.

If you are lucky enough to have drip irrigation to your garden, check all those connections and be sure the heads are putting out the proper amount of water. I personally like spending the mornings in my garden watering by hand. This also gives me an opportunity to discover any wee beasties that may be hiding in, under or around my plants. There is an old saying that the best thing to put in your garden is your shadow.

Enjoy the warmer weather and use this time to establish and nurture your gardens. Until next time, keep em green and growing!

Karen