Your May Garden Checklist
Everything you need to do for a successful growing season
Another planting month is upon us! Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, watermelon! All of the glorious summer garden produce goes in the ground this month. We always advise to wait until Mother’s Day to get these warm-weather crops in the ground, so early May is the perfect time to visit a nearby farmer’s market or local plant store for heirloom and organic varieties.
Don’t miss our April garden checklist if you need to play a bit of catch-up.
Indoors
Continue starting okra, squash, cucumber, melons, and watermelons indoors. Sow vining crops (like watermelon and cucumber) in individual peat pots as they do not transplant well if roots are disturbed.
Outdoors
Lots to do outside this month! Just after Mother’s Day, almost everything can be planted outside. Houseplants can also be moved to a shady spot in the yard to give them an extra boost of Vitamin D.
Beans, okra, squash, sweet corn, Southern peas, and watermelon can all be sown directly from seed. For a continuous bean and corn harvest, only plant a partial row of each and continue to direct sow seeds every week or two—this will ensure you are harvesting throughout the season rather than just all at once. Sunflowers, nasturtiums, marigolds, borage, and basil can also be directly sown from seed. Tip: Nasturtium is a trap plant, meaning it attracts harmful pests like aphids. Consider planting nasturtium near your kale, cabbages, or tomatoes to keep aphids off of those plants. Plus, every part of the nasturtium plant is edible—win, win!
Once the soil has completely warmed—toward the end of May if we’ve had warm weather—sweet potato slips can be planted in the ground.
Establish a trellis or support system for your tomatoes now rather than wait until they’re growing tall.
Harvest any leafy greens—lettuce, spinach, kale—before it gets too warm and your plants begin to bolt.
Give your compost pile a good turn or two on warm-weather days. Or, if you haven’t started a compost pile yet, start one—you’ll be cutting back on food waste and doing your soil a favor.
