Your May Garden

By Kymisha Montgomery, CGC Urban Agriculture Coordinator

There is a date that many of us eagerly anticipate so we can get started in our gardens. Some say it’s the last frost date, while others wait eagerly for Mother’s Day. Now that the last frost date has passed, some are preparing to transplant their tender seedlings into the soil. But as most of us know, here in Ohio there can always be a surprise dip in temperature at any time between now and then—especially at night. What can you do in May to get your garden off to a solid start?

Sowing and Transplanting

Let succession gardening work for you. With all the high temperatures we’ve been experiencing lately, it didn’t surprise me to see some of my brassicas bolting. If you sowed and transplanted most of your cool weather crops by now, you still have time for a second round of beets, carrots, Swiss chard, leaf lettuce, collards, mustard greens, radish, peas, bunching onions and spinach. If you planted indeterminate potatoes last month, keep mounding the soil up. Most herbs are ready to be sown in the soil, but keep in mind that cilantro does not respond well to planting late in the warmer temperatures.

Watch the forecast. If the weather looks good, now is the time to sow beans, watermelon, okra, squash, cucumber and sweet corn in the garden. By the end of May, it should be safe to plant almost everything outdoors, including your warm-weather-loving crops like tomatoes, eggplant and peppers, if you haven’t done so already.

Spring Garden Weeding

Those pesky weeds have arrived, and they definitely are not going to be leaving any time soon. Pulling them early makes it much easier to eliminate and control the problem before it becomes a task you’re having to do more often than you’d planned. Add a couple of inches of mulch to your garden bed to prevent the weeds from propagating and becoming problematic.

Avoiding Soil Erosion

May rainfall not only brings the necessary water for our seeds to germinate and tender transplants to grow, but it also can reveal another problem in our garden: soil erosion! Battling the flow of water verses the gravity that holds your soil in place can be daunting if you don’t have a good soil structure. Add 1-2 inches of mulch such as wood chips, straw or leaf mold to protect your soil and prevent it from being blown loose or washed away during strong winds and heavy rainfall. Using a cover crop or decreasing tillage are also valuable steps to minimize soil erosion. Or try adding an edging border to keep the soil inside the garden space.

Start Your Compost Pile

Spring is one of the best times to start a compost pile because the warm temperatures and wet conditions are ideal for breaking down organic matter. Compost breaks down slowly over time, and your garden can benefit from its supply of nutrient-rich decomposed material. If you have been adding to your pile over the winter months, skim off the top layers to reveal the “black gold” crumbly compost that may be ready to be added to your garden bed now. The materials that were on the top of the pile can be used to start your new pile.

What’s on your list for May in the garden?