May 2021 Edible Garden Planner

Early May edible garden

Saturday, May 1, 2021

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 even frost in our Zone 6/7 gardens.  This can be catastrophic for tomatoes, eggplants, basil and other heat lovers.  This year the weather forecast is calling for temp's in the 30's later this coming week.

At least 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 summer vegetable seeds, chilly and rainy conditions can cause the seeds to rot.  Warm, moist conditions are the best for seed success!

I will plant our summer veggies that I started from seed indoors after the low's in the 30's are over.  If I plant and then they call for frost, what's a gardener to do?  Give them a jacket!  You can cover your frost sensitive plants with a row cover or light sheet.  You just want to be sure that the cover is not too heavy and crushes your plants.  Remove after the frost is melted.  For more on protection for plants, see Starting the garden earlier, outwitting Jack Frost... 

Row cover

Spring has had fairly normal, cool temperatures so the garden is growing nicely.  The greens that love the cool weather are doing great!  You just don't want to plant the summer lovers too early as they don't like being cold and don't grow much until the soil warms.  Earlier is not always better.

May is the time to sow summer lover's seed Outdoor seed starting tips and plant warm season plants you have grown indoors or purchased.  A summer edible garden

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.  To preserve greens while they are still at their peak is quick and easy.  Freezing the extras for winter  The only green that is not frozen?  Lettuce.  I keep lettuce going in the garden by planting new seed every 3 weeks.

Lettuce, spinach and cilantro all go to bolting as soon as the temps hit the 80's in our garden.  You can let them go to seed and either save the seed to plant or let the seed fall where it may to give you new lettuce, spinach and cilantro.  An added bonus is that the bees love their small flowers.  Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

Mid May garden

So, what are we planting this year?  My 2021 Edible Garden Plan  Of course, we planted the number one veggie in the USA-tomatoes!   This year, I am growing them all from seed.  You could also just buy plants as there is a great selection of heirlooms at local nurseries, hardware stores and big box stores these days.  I am in a smaller garden this year, so I am limiting the number and type I am growing this year to a purple slicer, a red paste tomato and a chocolate cherry type for salads.  Choosing which tomatoes to grow   Loving the purple tomatoes with all their fantastic antioxidants!  Different colors in tomatoes give different nutrition

I will spray the seedlings with an organic fungicide before planting to give them some protection.  I am going to spray every week or so this year to see if it boosts the tomato harvest later in the season.  We have such hot, humid conditions that fungus grows well here!  I looked at the chemical fungicides but they contain cancer causing chemicals so I'll stick with the ones approved for organic growing.  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes  

If you have limited space, look for the dwarf/bush types like Bush Early Girl (only 54 days till ripe tomatoes), Patio Princess, Husky Red, Lizzano, Little Napoli, Front Runner, Tumbling Tom among many others. 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 will be growing vining snap beans this year.  I do have several quarts still in the freezer so will plant just a few vines.  Now is a great time to get them planted.  Legumes-peas for spring, beans for summer  

For peppers, I am growing one sweet peppers for fresh snacking, an Ancho/Pablano for drying to make into chili powder, and "Super Red Pimento" which I dice and freeze for salads.  I have plenty of frozen hot and sweet peppers for making salsa in the freezer from last year so I don't need too many pepper plants.  I also use cayennes for making hot sauce, which I still have lots in the cupboard.  Homemade hot sauce wings with homegrown celery  Quick, homemade salsa  Preserving peppers

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 fifth 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

 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 for the smaller peppers.  Bell peppers seemed to produce more in ground when I have grown them in the past.  I will refresh the potting soil and fertilize the seedlings I started when I transplant to their outdoor pot.  Re-energize your potting soil!   Peppers are for every taste and garden

I am growing a few eggplants that are supposed to stay sweet.  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

White eggplant fruit

I am growing just Bush Zucchini summer squash.  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 for spaghetti and slice lengthwise for lasagna noodle substitute.

I am also planting 1 winter squash-Spaghetti.  Spaghetti squash 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've grown them the last 2 summers and they did really well.  They've also kept into February indoors, just sitting on the counter.

  I've got cucumber, spinach, and lettuce seedlings this year for salads and to make green smoothies.  Grow your own juice garden  All are hardening on the covered patio.  I am growing the cucumber onto a trellis as well.    Cucumber info and tips for growing  I have plenty of volunteer celery, cilantro, parsley, mustard, kale, and sprouting broccoli in the garden so no planting needed for them.  I am growing a pink celery and dandelion for a fun pop of color along with Rose and Purple orach, which are great for summer salad leaves.  Orach and amaranth leaves stay sweet all summer.

Other veggie seedlings I have growing are Red Malabar and New Zealand spinach for summer greens, asparagus, Radish Dragon's Tail, Regina, Italian and Mignonette Alpine strawberries, a few varieties of okra including red and orange, and Chinese cabbage, and Italian onions.  

For herbs, I have stevia, bay trees and moringa tree that overwintered in the garage.  I have lots of volunteer chervil and cilantro in the garden so no need to plant more of those.  I love adding dried chervil leaves and lavender to add fragrance to body oil.  Make your own fragrant herbal body oil  I started borage and 5 kinds of basil from seed.  I bought curry and rosemary transplants from the hardware store.  Most of my herbs are perennials and are going strong in the garden right now-tarragon, chives, onions, oregano, thyme, fennel, mint, lavender, and garlic.  For more on herbs, see  Start a kitchen herb garden!

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.   Want continuous harvests? Succession planting!   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

Spring potted lettuce

We applied compost and mulched the garden beds a couple of weeks ago.  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 should stay year after year, but adding each year can't hurt anything.

I add Azomite around each of my transplants under the mulch last year so I should be good for this season.  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.  Only add what a soil test said your garden needed when it comes to potash an potassium.  You can get too much of both in the garden.  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.  "Hardening off" seedlings

If you purchased your transplants and they were already outdoors, they are ready to be plopped into the ground or pot and grow!

I always interplant my garden with flowers.  This year, I am using petunias, red flowering Hummingbird Vine, Blue morning glory flowering vine, cock's comb, delphiniums, Pride of Madeira and "Love, Lies Bleeding" amaranth for annuals.  For perennials, there are pink Fairy lilies, white flowering jasmine vine,  hollyhocks in a variety of colors-Summer Carnival, Red and Peach, 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.