May Madness: Gardener Edition
Take it one job at a time, plus tips on plant sales, hardening off, shade gardening and easy edibles for beginners.
Folks with children in school sometimes refer to this month as Mad May, that crazy month filled with concerts, plays, end of school tests and no fewer than 35 graduation parties on a single night. (I had never heard of high school grad parties until I moved to a small town, but trust me, it’s a thing.)
For gardeners, with or without kids at home, the month has other stresses. We’re watching the weather, which this year is taking its sweet time heating up and is a bit too dry for my liking; watching the plants started indoors and wondering where we can put them all, and regretting our decision on that one warm day to plant out some annuals. Relax. It’s going to be fine.
Make a List
This is the time of year to have that list of chores handy and work through them one by one. For me, that list included power-washing the deck and patio (check!), starting tomato, pepper and flower seeds indoors (check!) and starting squash, melons, pumpkins and a few other plants for my community garden indoors (check!) to give them a head start.
The undone portion of the list is long: Potting up annuals, weeding the community garden, adding compost, fencing, building the boxes for the garden, etc. etc. Make the list, check it off. While May can be super busy, remember that in our northern climate the window for planting is still wide open in early June.
Approach Plant Sales Strategically
Plant sales are exciting and it seems every garden club and master garden group is hosting one next weekend. A few tips and strategies:
Ask questions. Not only can you get information on the plants from those sponsoring the sale, but you should also ask about jumping worms, if they are selling divisions from private gardens. Also, sometimes plants that end up in garden club sales are — how shall we say this — enthusiastic growers? Do a quick internet check to make sure you aren’t inviting an aggressive plant into your garden.
Have a variety of payment options. I used to say bring cash or checks to local plant sales, but who writes checks now? Bring cash, just in case, but more than likely you’ll be able to use other payment options, such as credit card, Venmo or ApplePay.
Come early (and late). If you have something specific in mind, get to the sale early. If you are looking for bargains, come as the sale is ending. You never know what you’ll be able to snag because the organizers don’t want to haul it home. Which brings me to my last tip:
Be prepared to haul. Bring a cart, if you plan to buy a lot, or at least, clean out the back of your car and put the seats down. You want plenty of room to store all of your treasures.
Houseplants: In or Out?
Do you bring your houseplants outside for summer? I know many people like to do that. I have a new post in the Hot Topics section of my page on the pros and cons of bringing houseplants outside for summer.
How Much Shade Do You Have?
Part shade, dappled shade, full shade — what does all that mean and which plants grow where? Check out this article on all the different shades of shade.
What the Heck is Hardening Off?
Of all the concepts I learned as a new/young gardener, hardening off was among the most mysterious. When to do it? For how long? What happens if you forget to bring the plants in?
Hardening off is the process of getting all those seedlings you’ve been babying along in the comfort of your home out into the cold, sunny, windy, hot world outside. I take about two weeks to do hardening off, starting by putting the plants outside on my patio, which is mostly shaded. I wait until daytime temperatures are in the upper 60s or 70s and I’m confident I’ll be planting most of the plants in their permanent home soon. I keep my vegetables in large, flat plastic storage containers so I can bring them out as a group. (If you have them on a cart on wheels, all the better.) The high walls of the containers give them some initial protection from wind. I start leaving them outside for a couple of hours at a time, and over a week or so, extend that to most of the day.
If you work all day away from home, start the process on the weekend and then leave them out in a protected spot during the workday.
After the hassle of hardening off, you’ll be thrilled to plant your plants in their permanent homes!
Easy Vegetables for Beginning Gardeners
If this were my first year growing vegetables, here is what I would plant:
Green beans — The seeds are big, they germinate easily and produce a lot of harvest. Watch out for bunnies that like to munch the tops off the little bean plants. Bush beans are great if you have space; but if not put up a simple trellis and grow pole beans. Favorite varieties: Provider, French Filet or Contender for bush beans; Blue Lake or Kentucky Wonder for pole beans.
Cherry tomato. How much room have you got? If you have enough space to put up a trellis, plant Sun Gold cherry tomato. It is the most prolific and delicious tomato to grow. If space is tight, consider a patio size variety that can be grown in a container, such as Sweetheart of the Patio or Tiny Tim. If you want a slicer, some medium sized tomatoes also grow well in containers, such as Celebrity or Kellogg’s Breakfast.
Lettuce: Lettuce likes cool (but not cold) weather. Spread seed on the top or the soil in the garden or a container. Keep the seedlings moist and plant more seeds every couple of weeks from May to mid-June. Then start up again in mid-August for fall salads. For quick pickings, choose leaf lettuce varieties, such as Black Seeded Simpson or a lettuce blend, which includes several types of seed.
Herbs. Not sure you are ready to garden at all? Get yourself some herb plants at the farmers market or the garden center. One plant each of parsley, basil, mint, maybe an oregano or cilantro and you will be sold on gardening. They each just need a small pot with potting mix, lots of sun and a bit of water. They will repay you with tasty herbs all summer.
How is your May garden growing?
Very helpful information!