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| May garden |
Saturday, May 5, 2018
May Day is when the old timers say is the best time to plant your summer garden in the Midwest. Prior to May 1, there is still a good chance of poor weather, chilly temps, and frost in our Zone 6/7 gardens. This can be catastrophic for tomatoes, eggplants, basil and other heat lovers.
Today, we have the added advantage of the 15 day forecast! Check out your 15 day forecast to know if it looks safe to plant those tender summer veggies as it is possible to have chilly temps even into May. If direct planting seeds, chilly and rainy conditions can cause the seeds to rot. Warm, moist conditions are the best for seed success!
This spring has had below normal temperatures so the planting is behind previous years. The greens that love the cooler weather have done great! You just don't want to plant the summer lovers too early as they don't like being cold and you can lose them to frost. Earlier is not always better.
May is the time to sow summer lover's seed and plant warm season crops. The cold crops are at their peak at the beginning of the month with many bolting and going to seed by month's end like spinach, cilantro, lettuce, chard, kale, sprouting broccoli, and onions.
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| Mid-May garden |
So, what are we planting this year? Of course, we planted the number one veggie in the USA-tomatoes! This year, I bought most of them as plants. There is a great selection of heirlooms at local nurseries these days. There are a few I will grow from seed. We are planting a variety of heirloom, chocolate types, paste tomatoes, small and large tomatoes and a couple of new varieties. Choosing which tomatoes to grow Loving the purple tomatoes with all their fantastic antioxidants! I am trying a new multicolor and purple variety, too. Different colors in tomatoes give different nutrition
I have planted several varieties in the garden bed: Brandywine True Black and the traditional pink Brandywine, Cherokee Purple which always does well in our garden, Black Krim, Box Car Willie, Costoluto Genovese, San Marzano, and Amish Paste. Am growing Boronia in a pot as it is an heirloom compact type. Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes
Those should be more than enough for all our needs, but there are a few more that I can't resist growing from seed. There is an Italian Paste heirloom that always does great in the garden. I save seed from it every year. There are two purple tomatoes that I saved seed from that I bought from Whole Foods, a medium black and a very large black tomato. There is also an heirloom, compact paste tomato that I wanted to try Little Napoli. Then there was this multicolor small tomato that I bought seed for Indigo Pear Drops that would be great for salads. I may need to make some choices here or just wait to see if some of the early tomatoes don't do well and substitute some of these later in the season. There are just so many choices! The Power of Purple
If you have limited space, look for the dwarf/bush types like Bush Early Girl (only 54 days till ripe tomatoes), Patio, Husky Red, Lizzano and Tumbling Tom. Typically, you can expect to have your first ripe tomatoes around the 4th of July. The earliest tomato bearing variety I have grown is Yellow Tumbling Tom that gave me tomatoes in June. They grow great in the garden or pots. Compact tomato plants for small spaces
I'll plant the green bean seeds likely next week end, giving the ground time to get really warm. I like the vining, pole type. They produce all season and they grow up so using a trellis maximizes the garden space. We like the flavor from the flat Italian type of green beans. The green bean types I am growing are Purple Podded, Romano II, Blauhilde which is a purple green bean. All three did great in the garden last year. I have quarts and quarts of beans in the freezer. Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer
Last year, I also planted 3 kinds of storage beans, King of the Garden Lima, Fort Portal Jade and Good Mother Stollard beans. They were fun to try, but you just don't get many beans for the time and space in the garden. I got one quart jar total of dried beans from all 12 plants. I don't think I will grow them this year.
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| Pepper plant in August garden last year |
I planted several types of peppers. I am growing both sweet and hot peppers this season. I grow Cayenne for hot sauce, to dry for Red Pepper spice and to put in salsa. Homemade hot sauce wings with homegrown celery Jalapeño's for salsa. Quick, homemade salsa I have planted Poblano for chili powder. I planted Pimento for chopping up and using in Pasta House salads. Yum! Homemade salad dressing recipes with garden herbs
I overwintered an ancient hot pepper in the garage called Chipetin. It is thought to be the ancestor of all hot peppers. This is its second winter and it did great. It produces very small, very hot round red peppers. I dry them and use them in my grilling spice mix. Using herbs, flowers and fruit for flavored sugars and salts
Lastly, there are the sweet peppers to snack on and for salsa. I am trying a new sweet pepper this year Lipstick that is supposed to be prolific along with plants I'll grow from seed that I have saved from last year. The ones I grew last year were very sweet, crunchy and prolific. This year I am going to plant all my peppers in pots. It just seems that my peppers do better in a pot than in the ground. I just refreshed the potting soil and fertilized them well. Re-energize your potting soil! Peppers are for every taste and garden
I am growing two eggplants White Star and AO Daimaru. We loved Casper, but it is very hard to sprout from seed and not a variety that is easy to find as a plant. We'll try the White Star this year and maybe get lucky that it tastes similar to Casper. Our summers get so hot here that eggplant skins can get tough and the fruits bitter so I always look for the varieties that are good for our temps. Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden
I will plant 2 kinds of summer squash-Cocozelle and Early Prolific Straight Neck. They are susceptible to being killed by the squash vine borer if planted before June 1. You can protect the vine to keep the insect from boring into the vine by wrapping the vine or just replant if they do get infected. Zucchini grows fast! Growing zucchini and summer squash This may seem like overkill on the zucchini as one plant produces as much as a typical family needs during the summer. I found some great ways to use and preserve zucchini that any extra will be stored for many new ways of using. What to do with all that zucchini?! I really liked shredding the zucchini and using in place of spaghetti. I'll shred and put into freezer bags so I have a low carb, nutritious option anytime.
I am also planting a winter squash-Spaghetti squash. It is a low carb substitute for spaghetti, too. These vines don't produce many fruits, so I will plant a few vines. I am going to train them up a trellis to maximize my garden space. I grew them last year and they did pretty well until our chickens discovered them and decided they were a great snack.
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| Baby zucchini in summer garden |
I am planting cucumbers, sprouting broccoli, lettuce, kale, and parsley this year to make green smoothies. Grow your own juice garden All except the cukes are planted in the garden. I am planting interesting varieties of cucumber-Homemade Pickles, Mini White, Jaune Dickfleischige, a large cucumber that keeps for months, and Red Hmong. The white is a small fruit. It will be nice to have smaller ones so I can pick one for a single salad. I will grow these onto a trellis as well. Cucumber info and tips for growing
Other veggies I planted were red veined sorrel, carrots, Utah celery, salad burnet, Radish Rat's Tail, Red Italian dandelion, chard, cilantro, dill, Dwarf Moringa, Roselle Red hibiscus, Red Giant mustard, Regina Alpine strawberries, arugula, Corn Salad, parsley, purple orach, cabbage, kale, sprouting broccoli, and spinach.
For herbs, I added several to the garden this year. I transplanted rosemary and garlic chives. I overwintered our bay plants in the unheated garage. Both are doing great and have many new leaves. I started chervil from seed. I love adding dried chervil leaves and lavender to add fragrance to body oil. Make your own fragrant herbal body oil I added another oregano-a variegated type that is a nice splash of color. I planted several creeping thymes with different colors, textures, scents and flowers. I'll start borage and basil from seed indoors this week end. For more on herbs, see Start a kitchen herb garden!
It was also time for another round of greens. Resowing every 3 weeks will keep us in salads all through the summer and fall. Want continuous harvests? Succession planting! I'll look for greens that stand up to the heat for this next round of planting. I'll start them in pots and then transplant to the garden when they are big enough.
For lettuce, I planted bedding plants of Red Romaine, Buttercrunch, Red Sails, Paris Island Cos Romaine, and Buttercrunch. For the next round of lettuce sowings, I'll go with the more heat resistant varieties like Jericho Romaine which has been tested to last 3 months before bolting as well as Red Sails loose leaf lettuce which stays sweet after bolting. Look for varieties that have heat tolerant in the descriptor. Here are some varieties that are proven to do well in the summer Bolt-free, sweet summer lettuces
Lettuce and spinach aren't the only greens you can use for salads, see more at Growing summer salads
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| Potted lettuce and arugula |
We fertilized and mulched at the end of April. When planting, I like to powder the roots of each plant with plant starter as well as dig in some fertilizer in each hole. Plant starter has mycorrhizal microbes which fixes nitrogen to the roots of the plant, helping it to grow sturdier, bigger and faster. Once you have the microbes in the soil, they will stay year after year.
Later this month, I will add Azomite around each of my transplants under the mulch with the next round of fertilizer. During the growing season, you should fertilize monthly. Azomite contains many minerals which can result in significantly improved growth for your plants and more minerals in your harvested plants for a healthier you. A win-win for your garden and your family. The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals
Before you send your new transplants into the garden, insure they have been sufficiently "hardened off." If you started your own seeds indoors, take your plants out daily over a week or so into a partially shady spot, letting them get used to the strong sun and wind. I put mine out on the deck to get used to the sun and wind for several days before planting out.
If you purchased your transplants and they were already outdoors, they are ready to be plopped into the ground or pot and grow!
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| Iris in background and celosia in foreground interplanted with lettuce and sorrel |
I always interplant my garden with flowers. This year, I am using zinnias, marigolds, petunias, snapdragons, old fashioned Cock's Comb which is ruby red and grows 4 feet tall, red flowering Hummingbird Vine, Moonflower vine, Blue morning glory vine, heirloom sunflowers, and alyssum for annuals. For perennials, there are delphiniums, hollyhocks in a variety of colors-Summer Carnival and Peach, red hot poker, day-lilies, irises, and gladiolas.
May is an exciting time in the garden. Every day you go out, you can see things growing. The spring vegetables are in their prime, the summer veggies are just starting, and there are so many herbs ready for seasoning your favorite salads or dishes. Just be sure to keep ahead of the weeds and provide even watering.
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