Vegetable Garden News for Early May | Terra Potager

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• Learn to harvest all year round
• Shop
  • Our calendar/almanac
  • Our ACD greenhouses
  • The vegetable garden review
  • Order seeds
  • Gardening products, fertilizers
  • Online course ‘I succeed with my tomatoes’
• Vegetable garden tips
• Topics
  • Succeeding with your seedlings and plants
  • Soil: amendments, fertilizers, compost
  • Vegetable garden techniques
  • Pests in the vegetable garden
  • Growing vegetables
  • Flowers, aromatic and medicinal plants, biodiversity
• Connect
• Contact

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Do you want to learn how to grow your own vegetables? Thanks to the Terra almanac, you won’t forget about sowing: just open your file, look at the current month, and you’ll have all the sowings to be done (explained in detail), allowing you to produce vegetables all year round.

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Friends of Terra, hello,

In May, the soils begin to warm up nicely; it’s the season when we can start to install many things in the garden, without fear that they won’t grow. However, summer vegetables still need a little extra warmth to be planted in the ground outdoors at the beginning of the month. We generally wait a few more days, until mid-May, to get started. Or we cover them with a cloth for the first few days!

Let’s look together at some activities to do in the vegetable garden at the beginning of May.

What to do in the garden in early May?

Overall, with a few precautions, we can currently sow and plant everything, either in the ground or under cover.

Sowing to do in May

Vegetables: basil, celery, first chicories (curly and escarole, summer varieties), cucumber, squash, zucchini, pattypan squash, beans (for the warmest regions), melon, watermelon, tomatoes (for those who are late), Swiss chard, beets, carrots, cabbages (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, curly, headed), lettuce, sweet corn, turnip, onions, parsnip, parsley, leek (hurry up), peas, radishes, arugula…

Questions about these sowings? Ask them in the comments of this article!

On the flower side, in place or under cover: marigolds, nasturtiums, sweet peas, cosmos, marigold, daisy, zinnia. Among others!

Planting in early May in the vegetable garden

For planting, be sure to thoroughly moisten the clumps or pots beforehand (depending on size, at least a good hour). Prepare a small basin at planting to facilitate watering. Do not mulch immediately to avoid keeping the soil cool and to allow for better warming.

To plant, depending on the regions: eggplants, cabbages, melon, watermelon, tomatoes, artichokes, shallots, lettuce, aromatic plants, potatoes, leeks.

What else to do in the vegetable garden at the beginning of the year?

Continue to acclimatize and harden off the plants by taking them outside daily, and for longer periods each day. Don’t forget to bring them back in as temperatures drop in the evening.

For heat-loving crops (cucumber, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers), spread a dark material (potting soil, dark compost, slates) at the time of transplanting, which will capture heat and benefit the young plants.

Weed the strawberry plants that are currently flowering. Incorporate compost, mulch, or use a tarp: the strawberries will be clean for harvest, without splashes of dirt.

Chop green manures (if possible before they go to seed) in preparation for planting greedy vegetables: squash, tomatoes, etc. Do not export the material, but leave it in place to preserve nutrient input.

To optimize harvests and space (especially in small vegetable gardens), feel free to plant salads between the cabbages or tomatoes that will be planted every 50 cm.

If you are a fan, and if you have the raw material easily available, start building lasagna beds for future greedy crops.

Continue to be particularly vigilant about ventilating tunnels and greenhouses. If it’s still quite cool in the morning, temperatures rise very quickly and can easily exceed 25 degrees during the day.

Focus on Aromatics

Aromatic plants hold an important place in the vegetable garden. They complement and enhance our harvests, salads, or other vegetables. Here are some tips for their cultivation.

• Making your own sowings can be long and delicate. Don’t hesitate to buy ready-made plants at the garden center or from your favorite nursery;
• For obvious ease of use, grow them close to the kitchen, possibly in pots;
• The advantage of growing your own aromatics is that you only take what you use. No need to buy an expensive plant at the market or supermarket;
• Be careful to plant them in soil that suits them, especially for Mediterranean species (thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano, bay leaf…): these species prefer sunny conditions and well-drained soils: grow them on a mound if you doubt your soil;
• Most aromatics are perennials that form small bushes. Prefer to plant them in borders to avoid them taking up too much space in the middle of the garden;
• Don’t hesitate to make frequent harvests (especially for thyme, basil, parsley, chives…). The plant will gain in vigor. This also allows you to make reserves, either by drying or freezing;
• Step off the beaten path: there are many varieties and species that deserve a culinary detour to brighten up your dishes, such as shiso (or Perilla from Nanking) 😉

Some Cultivation Paths for These Aromatics…

• Chives: sow in March and April, in place or in pots. Space plants 20 cm apart. Prefers cool soils. Cutting the stems encourages fresh shoots. Divide the largest clumps in March or October;
• Mint: can be invasive, plant in a container if you have a small garden. Prefers cool, fertile soils, and dislikes very hot exposures. Water generously. Space plants 40 cm apart;
• Tarragon: requires light, rich soil, and sun. Space 50 cm apart. Keep the soil cool. Divide in spring. Pinch young stems and cut back vigorously in spring to stimulate growth;
• Sorrel: multiply by dividing the roots. Prefer deep, cool soil, planting in partial shade. Space 25 cm apart;
• Rosemary: shrub about 1.50 m tall. Prefers loose, drained, poor, and dry soil. Easy division by cuttings. Prune every year after flowering, in March-April, to prevent it from becoming bare;
• Sage: evergreen foliage plant. Grow in full sun, in drained and dry soil. Reduce by half in spring, then after flowering, to encourage regrowth;
• Parsley: very delicate sowing. Germination occurs in 8 to 10 days, but often (usually!) takes about 3 weeks. Keep the soil or potting mix moist. Transplant if you sow a few seeds in pots or cells, with one plant every 15 to 20 cm. Water regularly;
• Basil: to be sown in mini clumps, pots, etc., starting in March, in warmth. Its growth is slow, in full light, with a minimum of 15 degrees. Transplant into pots at the 2 or 4 leaf stage, then plant in the ground or in a planter when there is no longer a risk of frost. Sowing in the ground is possible from May.

Growing Beets (and Swiss Chard…)

This refers to garden beets, not to be confused with fodder beets or sugar beets. They are the same species, which Swiss chard (or chard) also complements (and which are grown in the same way).

There are different colors (for example, Burpee Golden which is yellow, Black Egypt which is red, Chioggia which is pink with white stripes), and different shapes that are more or less rounded (Robuschka) or elongated (Crapaudine).

Depending on your tastes and how you consume them, your choice will be between early varieties that can be harvested 3 months after sowing (Forono, for example), or later varieties that are harvested 5 months or more after sowing and can be stored (Crapaudine, for example).

Sowing takes place from March, in a cold greenhouse, for early varieties to be harvested in June. Place one to two clumps (a clump contains 2 to 6 seeds) in pots or clumps. It can be done in the ground in April-May, provided that temperatures do not drop below -5 degrees, for later varieties to be harvested in late summer/early autumn. Latecomers can sow beets until the end of July.

At emergence, thinning can be done, especially for certain varieties, those for storage, like Crapaudine.

The seedlings you take can very easily be transplanted into pots or in the ground. For seasonal varieties, you can leave 2 or 3 beets in the same spot: they will simply be a little smaller.

Transplanting occurs as soon as the risk of severe frosts is over. Planting is done every 15 cm, in all directions. Prefer loose soil, not too enriched. Be sure to maintain moist conditions by watering regularly and mulching as needed. In case of excessive drought and/or heat, beets may bolt in the first year.

A little tip for beets, but applicable to all plants in general: to mulch well around the plants, plant them and cover them with a pot. Then, mulch on top without hassle. Afterward, remove the pots and the plants are neatly mulched.

Harvesting occurs between 3 and 5 months, depending on the varieties, after sowing. They can be harvested all at once, or left in the ground (watch out for our friends the voles, though…) to be harvested as needed (they can withstand temperatures down to -10 degrees in winter!).

They can also be harvested and preserved, either in jars or through lacto-fermentation. A preservation method that works very well is to place them in a cellar, in bins, covered with sand.

In terms of production, you can expect about 2 kg of...