EP224- What To Sow In May & Other Gardening Job For A Thriving Garden.

What to sow in May in the vegetable garden? What flowers to sow in May ? Gardening jobs for May ?

These are all covered by John in this weeks episode. Discover the secrets to thriving in the garden during May's unpredictable weather and master the art of succession planting. This episode of Master my Garden Podcast is brimming with insights to help you navigate the busiest month in the garden, from the risks and rewards of planting tomatoes early to the strategic timing for sowing summer cabbages and root vegetables. I'll walk you through maximizing your garden’s potential with catch crops and share the latest updates on what to plant right now to ensure a bountiful harvest.

As your guide through the lush world of vegetable growing, I'm here to arm you with practical advice for sowing an aromatic array of herbs and managing the timeline for a continuous supply of fresh produce. Embrace the vibrancy of summer vegetable gardening as we discuss everything from cucumbers to courgettes, and learn how to keep your sowing schedules on track amidst the season's challenges. So grab your gardening gloves and tune in—with every seed sown, we're planting the seeds for success in your very own backyard oasis. Happy planting, and remember, your garden's success is just a podcast away!

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Until next week  
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John  

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

How's it going, everybody, and welcome to episode 224 of Master my Garden Podcast. Now, this week's episode being the first weekend of May, we're going to look at what we can sow in the month of May, and these episodes tend to be very, very popular. It's kind of a nice way to keep reminding yourself of what to sow in the month ahead. I suppose the weather over the last week has been iffy again, for want of a better word. So last week I was a little bit excited because we had a couple of days of good sunshine, and this week there has been reasonable sunshine but quite a bit of heavy rain and still temperatures hanging quite low and nighttime temperatures definitely low. And again this week I see people struggling with different things. A lot of people, I suppose, after the couple of warm days, saw their you know, saw their tunnels and their greenhouses getting quite warm and put out tomatoes and they got a bit of a stinging during the week. So it's still very early For me never even contemplate planting them out into the tunnel until June. So they're coming along nicely, no panic on them, but by next month, a full month away before I actually plant them into the tunnel, and I know that's way behind what other people will be be. But you just have to kind of understand and know your area and be very vigilant at this time of year. Night frosts they just don't like them at all and, as I say, I see a lot of people struggling with that this week and, strangely enough, if everything is perfect weather-wise and you get them into the tunnel in May, you'll get tomatoes a small bit earlier.

Speaker 1: 1:49

But typically there tends to be very little difference between something that you get in in May and something that you get in in early June. Now I know some of you listening. You may have flower trusses on your tomatoes and all that already. You may be just that step ahead and you might be just finished with your frostusses on your tomatoes and all that already. You may be just that step ahead in and you might be just finished with your frost. You know, depending on your area, but for a lot of people that extra little bit of weight is worthwhile and the difference. You know the the month of growth. There might be very little catch-up to do and when, when plants get into the ground in June, they can catch up very quickly and by the time you get to the end of june, you can see very little difference between those. So sometimes the risk is just not worth the reward, I suppose at the point there.

Speaker 1: 2:33

But, um, yeah, the, the the upcoming weeks looks, looks like fingers crossed, like it's a bit better again and temperatures are coming up a nice bit and we are looking at some kind of dry days, warm days, sunny days, and I suppose that's what we're all looking for at this stage as we enter into May. April can be funny anyway at the best of times, but I suppose we were kind of hoping for a bit better on the back of such a long, prolonged period of wet. So it's great now, hopefully, to be getting to a point where we're looking ahead to some good sunshine, and definitely this week, even in between rain showers, we did have good sunshine, good warm spells and brightness, and I think that's needed as much as anything. In terms of growth of plants, a lot of the early part of spring there just wasn't enough light levels, and the sunshine that we've had over the last week will will certainly, will certainly be helping and I can notice, you know, big, big growth levels in in seedlings at this stage. So with that in mind, there's loads to do in the month of may.

Speaker 1: 3:36

It's probably the busiest month and I suppose what's what's happening is it's the month where your beds tend to get chock-a-block, generally speaking, outside, and there is a tendency at that stage to, I suppose, hold off sowing or not sow anymore, thinking I have everything filled here, there's no more space. But really work on keeping some level of succession going, even if your beds are full, because you take a few weeks down the line, those are going to be harvested and they're going to come out and at that point in time you will have space again. So just bear that in mind and like thinking at this time of the year, earlier in the time, it might take eight weeks to develop a proper strong club plant to go outside, or seedling to go outside, but now, at this stage of the year, can be a lot faster. Sort of four weeks, five weeks, and then they need to be into the ground. So the the level of time between sowing and planting is shorter.

Speaker 1: 4:36

But with your beds being full this month, look ahead, look ahead, sort of four weeks, five weeks, six weeks, what's coming out over that period of time that will allow you to fill up again and don't be afraid to take advantage of little catch crops as well, like if you have, you know, given space over to beds of things like cauliflower, for example, that need quite a lot of space. Don't be afraid to get a little row of radishes in between there. You know planting some some quick, you know catch crops of lettuce, spinach, you know something like that, something that you can get in, get the crop out, before the cauliflower actually needs that space. You're taking advantage of that all the time and that's an important thing. And in terms of sowing, there's still loads to be sowing this month and there's probably a few things that have dropped off, like, for example, this month I've dropped off tomatoes, off the offer to sewing this this month, and added on a couple of things like the likes of cucumbers I'll sow this month, melons I'll sow this month, and so on. So there's, you know there's a few changes here and there, but generally speaking, it's a busy month and there's still lots that we can be sowing and continue to sow, because you know, as I say, missed missed sowings will be missed sort of windows of harvest down the line. It's also a lot of annual flowers and and some perennial flowers that we can sow at this time of the year and you won't get full effect from your perennials this time of the year, but you can still grow them perfectly and you know they'll be, they'll be forming and you'll be creating plants for for future. So that in mind, let's get into the sowing guide and you'll just briefly run over what you know, the long list of what can be sowed in in the month. And again, spring onions is on it. Spring onions is going to be on it pretty much every month up until later on in the year and it's a regular, you know, little and often sort of a successional sowing of those.

Speaker 1: 6:29

Then we're on to cabbage. Cabbage I would be sowing at this stage. You're looking for sort of mid-summer varieties. I continue to sow greyhound, it's just the one I like here, it's the one I use here. So small amounts of that. Then calabrese, again, you can sowing cauliflower as well. We're looking at summer varieties still here. Spinach this, you know that's going to be direct sowing. You can direct so outside now at this stage, once the temperatures come up a small bit more. But yeah, you can direct so those outside leeks at the moment I'll be sown. You know, in this month I'll be sowing some summer varieties, a small sowing of those, and then I'll sow quite a big sowing of autumn varieties and I'd probably do one more sowing slightly later of kind of an autumn stroke winter variety, and that'll give you leeks pretty much all over sort of late autumn, right through to next spring. The last of the leeks are coming out of the ground at the moment. They're basically where I'm planting in my potatoes, so I need to get them out anyway, but they're starting to run to seed now. But they're still perfectly usable and you know they've been harvested over a really long period of time.

Speaker 1: 7:39

Radishes, again, you can, as I said, you can use them as catch crops. Sow them regularly, little and often. They're going to be your quickest to mature, the quickest return of you know, any vegetables you're going to sow, you're going to harvest them so quickly after sowing them. So they're, they're worth continuing to sow and sowing regularly. Turnips, again, the same thing, quite regular enough. Sowings of those swedes this will be your last chance to sow swedes now. This is kind of your autumn winter. You know, at this stage we're starting to move into crops that are going to take you to autumn winter. So sowing of those either in a module cell or direct sow outside. Just make sure that you're thinning them out properly, that they have enough space to develop further down the line.

Speaker 1: 8:23

Lettuce, again, little and often on those. If you're, you know, using something like a cut and come lettuce or you're using a butterhead, but just harvesting outer leaves and allowing it to continue to develop, you can get longer between your sowings and that's a really good way of doing it. And then beetroot, again direct sowing outside, salad leaves, same as lettuce. Some of the herbs we can still do coriander, dill, chervil parsley, all of those can be sown still this month. You don't need a lot of any of those, but, um, you know you, you can sow them. So, for example, coriander you'll probably do successionally, maybe once a month, but the likes of dill, chervil parsley, just one or two sowings in the whole year is going to do you there.

Speaker 1: 9:09

Basil, again, it's only this month that we can really sow that and I won't do that even until later in the month. So we're looking for a lot of heat. I'm very Mediterranean, likes heat, likes dry compost as well. Obviously it has to be some moisture in there, but generally speaking they like to be a little bit drier. And yeah, later in the month I'll sow those Pak Chai to be a little bit drier. And yeah, later in the month I'll sow those pack chai. Not a huge fan personally, but yeah they're, they can be sown this month, charred the same.

Speaker 1: 9:36

And then some of the the warmer are the ones that need a lot of warmth, the likes of cucumber, courgette, sweet corn, french beans, pumpkin, squash, melon, all of those now I will sow. I've done a small bit of French beans already, but the rest of them I'll only do in the month of May. So that'll be late and a lot of people will be talking about planting these out already. But just for me and my tunnel, it perfectly, you know, it's perfect timing because I can't get them into the ground until June anyway. So all of those melon I didn't have any great success with last year, so I'm trying one that is suitable. It says on the pack, suitable for outside and I've got to grow it inside in the tunnel. So I'm hoping that I can you sort of meet, meet a balance there and get get some success with melons this year.

Speaker 1: 10:28

Peas, ias I'll be sowing this month. Celery I'll sow Carrots and parsnips I'll be doing my direct sow outside this month and typically with carrots I do two sowings to give me sort of long harvest up into autumn and winter. Parsnips, like the last of my carrots I dug out two weeks ago Again, they're starting to regrow but they're perfectly fine and used the last of them two weeks ago. They're starting to regrow but they're perfectly fine and used the last two weeks ago and for the first time this week at the buy carrots, now par snips. I probably have a week or two weeks max left in those and then I'll be, you know, buying again.

Speaker 1: 11:04

But for the period of time, you know, right through September, right through to now, I've been kind of harvesting. It's not huge amounts but little and often. So you know a couple of sowings of those and you'll be able to get a long, long period of time out of it and that's kind of. You know the full list. A few things have dropped off at this month, the likes of aubergines, chili peppers, peppers, anything like that. So if you're still looking to grow those in your tunnel this year, loads of time. But just get them now, get them as plants and get them in, you know, fairly soon because they they, they need a relatively long season and that's why they've dropped off the seed sowing list. So, yeah, there's, there's still loads in terms of the vegetable garden that we can be sown other things in in the vegetable garden like, you can still plant potatoes, you can still plant onion sets. So, secondarily, potatoes typically at this stage you're gone a little bit late for earlies in most areas. Now, that doesn't mean you can't and you won't get something from them. You will, of course. But secondarily is definitely a main crop Potatoes. Definitely get those in. You know, at the moment ground temperatures have come up relatively good, so yeah, get them in. At the moment, ground temperatures have come up relatively good, so yeah, get them in.

Speaker 1: 12:12

In terms of outside and the jobs that you're doing outside in the vegetable garden, just continue to keep on top of weeds. If you're using no dig, keep your eye open, lightly till or lightly hoe the ground or just hand pick any any little seedlings that you see popping up, because they will seed into it. But little and often and that'll keep, you know really keep on top of any weeds that might come up. Again, as we covered in recent episodes, things like slugs can be a challenge. A lot of people are still putting out seedlings, young plug plants and getting wiped out. Just be vigilant when you're putting them out. Slugs are inevitably going to be there at the moment, so you need to be using some form of control. You know some form of of way of protecting your plants there.

Speaker 1: 12:54

You've put all this work into sowing them, growing them, minding them over the last while. Don't just put them out and allow them to be to be taken away in one night. Keeping an eye out this month as well, for carrot root fly, leather jackets and and other pests as the temperatures start to come up. So definitely protect carrots and carrot root fly. You know can come out early. So just yeah, once you want to, once you have them sown, once you have them germinated and once they're you know farming leaves get them covered, get them protected and you know that will make sure that you get a decent crop out of it elsewhere. Then the vegetable in the garden again loads that.

Speaker 1: 13:34

We can be sowing a lot of the you know a lot of the flowers can still be sown. So you're looking at a lot of the annuals, even at this stage may can still be sowing. I know you'll see all your bedding plants, your annual bedding plants in in your garden centers as of today or as of even a couple of weeks ago. But traditionally people would have started sowing these in early may and, you know, planted them out sometime in in mid to late june, and that's still perfectly possible. So the likes of cosmos cornflower Cornflower, can be direct sown outside. If you need Cosmos, better probably to raise it in little seed trays and then into plug trays.

Speaker 1: 14:16

Zinnias, nasturtiums, petunias, sunflowers Again sunflowers. We grow them here. Just something to do for Emmy, the five-year-old here. She loves sowing those. We'll only do them this month, but they'll grow extremely fast and they'll be planted out then. Probably end of the month or early next month they'll go out.

Speaker 1: 14:38

Marigolds can be sown. Canangeles can be sown. Nigella Love in the Mist that can be sown. Conangeles can be sown. Nigella love in the mist that can be sown this month. Even certain perennials can be sown, the likes of lupins, salvias, echinaceas. They can all be sown this month. So there's loads. Once you get temperatures up like that, there's pretty much, you know, all the flowers sort of fall in. There's probably better times for certain things like sweet peas. But once temperatures are high like this, a lot of seed can be sown in this month.

Speaker 1: 15:07

So it's a really, really busy month. Growth kind of really kicks off in the month of may. So that means you're you're keeping on top of your lawn, you're keeping on top of beds for weeding and so on. But and and it is definitely probably the busiest the busiest month and within the garden generally it is also probably the most enjoyable because it's the. It's probably not warm enough yet for, generally speaking, for getting out and sitting out in the evening time too much, but there's extra daylight, extra long days and it feels like you're you're making huge progress this month, whereas when we get start getting into june and july you might want to start, you know, getting more into the enjoying of the garden rather than the creating of the garden mode. But may is, as I say, probably the busiest month, generally speaking in the garden. It's one that most people look forward to. It's one that there's a lot going on. It's one that you can see sort of real progress. Up until now you've been sowing seeds and you know progress and steps forward have looked slow. But may things can kind of ramp up and visually, if you look at the garden from the start of may to the end of may, there can be a massive change in terms of growth levels, in terms of what flowers appear, in terms of what vegetables are ready to harvest or being harvested, and there's a real sense of satisfaction in that. So, yeah, it's a. It's a. It's a busy month, but it's a very exciting month.

Speaker 1: 16:31

Some other things coming up. You know, this weekend, for example, the rhsi have their their garden show in rhs rust by us, so that that's on Sunday and yeah, it's always a great event. There's some very good speakers again this year. Lots of very good plant sales at it. I was up there last year actually, and the plant sales were brilliant lots of unusual stuff, lots of really good sort of different types of plants. There was a mike from shady plants was there. It was somebody selling a lot of daily tubers. I forget the name of that company, but there was lots of daily tubers. There was, you know, specialist nurseries, camo and potting shed. There was loads of nurseries there and lots for for everyone to do.

Speaker 1: 17:20

It's kind of a nice place to go with family as well. So for people who don't want to get dragged to um, you know, they don't want to get dragged to gardening things or gardening events or kids that are given out that they don't want to go to a gardening show. There's lots to do there as well for for children, so great day out. And there's other other stuff coming up. I'll keep you posted on them over the next few weeks. You know any garden events that might be coming up in ireland.

Speaker 1: 17:45

But, um, yeah, there's a busy month, lots going on for me personally. I have a couple of garden talks going on. Some of them are with private groups and then I have the buds and blossoms festival just in early june. So I'll keep you posted on that as well. Some some good speakers on you know on on that event and, uh, yeah, hopefully maybe we'll we'll we'll do a podcast with with the speakers over the coming weeks and and tell you more about what's coming up at that show. So buds and blossoms in june and the leash part of the leash garden festival. So, yeah, there's loads going on in the garden.

Speaker 1: 18:22

Busy month for sowing Don't forget to keep sowing, because that will be crops that you know if you don't sow them, that'll be crops that you'll miss out further down the line. And, generally speaking, enjoy your busy month in the garden. It will be a busy month and we'll keep you posted, fingers crossed. The weather is on the way upwards at this stage. Last week wasn't too bad, except for some rain and some bits of cold, but we are seeing sunshine for the first time and we expect and fingers crossed hope that that will continue over the next couple of weeks. So that's been this week's episode. Thanks for listening and until the next time, happy gardening, thank you.