May is a busy month for gardeners! Are you feeling overwhelmed with everything you want to accomplish in the garden?
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In this May Garden Guide, I share some ideas for how to prioritize planting, weeding, watering, and more.
Be sure May isn’t all about work, however. Here at Tenth Acre Farm, we try to take some time to enjoy the beautiful weather before the heat and mosquitoes return.
In the April garden, weather dictated small windows of time for sowing and transplanting. The symbol for May, however, is the busy bee!
Remember, these May garden tasks are based on my gardening in USDA hardiness zone 6b. You may need to make adjustments for your climate. See below under ‘May Garden Planning’ for more ways to adjust this schedule for your needs.
Calendula flowers grown with broccoli
1. May Harvest
Though you might have seedlings to plant, seeds to sow, and weeds to pick, your most important task is to harvest and use what you’ve already grown.
Remember, THIS IS SUPPOSED TO SAVE YOU MONEY!
If you’ve got tomatoes and peppers to get in the ground but your herbs are bursting with freshness, pick the herbs. They go for premium pricing in stores and at farmers markets, and you have them growing for very little trouble.
Therefore, pick the low maintenance, high value crops. Then figure out how to process and use what you’ve picked. Plus, you can plant your tomatoes until mid-June. No need to panic 🙂
Harvesting Cool Weather Crops in May
- Beets (Here are my tips for harvesting beets plus a ton of beet recipes)
- Brassicas
- Collards
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Radishes
- Turnips (Greens are super tasty, too)
- Lettuce
- Onions (Cure for 2 weeks before storing)
- Peas
- Spinach
- Swiss chard
Grow a garden that’s both productive and manageable with my Complete Garden Planning System, which includes practical tools for planning your season from seed to harvest.
Harvesting Perennial Crops in May
- Asparagus
- Rhubarb
- Strawberries
Harvesting Herbs in May
- Chamomile
- Chives
- Dill
- Echinacea
- Fennel
- Garlic scapes
- Marjoram
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Sage
2. May Garden Planning
There’s so much to do in May! In addition to harvesting, I’m also starting seeds inside, sowing seeds outside, and planting seedlings. Not sure when to start seeds? This spring guide covers planting times for 30 popular crops. Don’t forget I’m gardening in USDA hardiness zone 6b – you may need to make adjustments for your climate.
Starting Seeds Under Grow Lights
Busy, busy…lots of seeds to start this month! Check out my guide to starting seeds indoors. If you need to purchase seed starting materials, check out my Amazon shop.
- Herbs:
- Basil
- Echinacea (Give this heirloom variety from Botanical Interests a try)
- Marjoram
- Oregano
- Sage
- Sweet alyssum
- Cabbage family crops
- Broccoli (I like this variety)
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Collards
- Kale (My garden wouldn’t be complete without Lacinato Dinosaur kale from Botanical Interests)
- Celery
- Lettuce
- Okra
- Swiss chard
- Tomato (Cherokee Purple from Botanical Interests is my all-time favorite variety for slicing and fresh-eating)
Sowing Seeds Outside
I love being able to plant these directly into the ground without all of the hassle of indoor seed starting.
- Herbs
- Basil
- Calendula (Here’s how I use calendula in the garden)
- Chamomile
- Cilantro
- Dill
- Fennel
- Nasturtium
- Sunflower
- Sweet alyssum (Here’s how I use sweet alyssum in the garden)
- Legumes (Give them the perfect trellis!)
- Beans
- Peas
- Beet family crops
- Beets (Learn about planting your best beet crop)
- Spinach
- Swiss chard (Try rainbow chard in the edible landscape)
- Cabbage family crops
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Collards
- Kale
- Kohlrabi (Try purple kohlrabi in the edible landscape)
- Radish
- Rutabaga
- Turnips
- Carrot (Here are my tips for growing carrots year-round)
- Corn
- Cucurbit family crops
- Cucumber (Here’s how to grow the best cucumbers)
- Melon
- Summer & winter squash
- Lettuce
Swiss chard & sweet alyssum border
Planting Outside
Planting seedlings outside, whether from my own stash or purchased at a local farmers’ market, is one of my favorite ways to get the garden ready for summer.
- Herbs
- Basil
- Chives (Hint: plant chives with strawberries!)
- Echinacea
- Lavender
- Lemon balm
- Marjoram
- Oregano (See: 6 reasons to grow oregano)
- Parsley
- Peppermint
- Rosemary (If you overwintered rosemary inside, it’s time to re-pot it)
- Sage
- Sweet alyssum
- Thyme (See: 6 reasons to grow thyme)
- Cabbage family crops
- Broccoli
- Brussels Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Collards
- Kale
- Celery
- Nightshade crops
- Eggplant
- Peppers
- Potatoes
- Tomatoes
- Perennials
- Fruit trees
- Here are tips on planting fruit trees
- Learn about fruit tree guilds
- Berry bushes
- Try growing aronia berries, the superfood
- Here are 4 berry bushes that fertilize, too!
- Currants are excellent in an edible landscape
- Rhubarb
- Strawberry plants
- Fruit trees
- Onion family crops
- Leeks
- Onions
- Lettuce
- Okra
- Sweet potato slips
- Swiss chard
3. May Garden Maintenance
Here are some of the maintenance tasks that I try to work on in May.
Mulching & Weeding
They make not be your favorite tasks, but they are necessary tasks!
- Mulch creates a healthier ecosystem and reduces the amount of time required for other maintenance tasks. Learn how to mulch properly and more about the various types of mulch.
- If you’ve had a bad day or are feeling stressed, grab your gloves, head to the garden, and spend some time pulling out weeds. It’s a great stress reliever and I promise you’ll feel better! Before you start weeding, though, check out how to harness the power of 5 common weeds.
And that does it for May. How is your garden coming along?
READ NEXT:
- Four Garden Planning Tools You Need This Year
- How to Start a Garden on a Budget
- June Garden Guide: Planning, Planting, and More
Teresa Hill says
Good luck finishing up your book, Amy. That is really exciting. I garden mostly for the heirloom tomatoes 🙂 but I really enjoy your content and appreciate all the detail as well as beautiful photos. (Most bloggers do one well and the other not-so-well.) You have a talent for both! -TH, Northern Ky
Amy says
Wow, thanks for such a nice compliment! Made my day 🙂
Michelle says
So many great ideas. I tend to have an “All or Nothing” approach – if I can’t get out there and finish weeding the whole garden, I put it off…not a good approach. I smiled when I read your advice – “Gardening for 7 minutes over morning coffee and 8 minutes with your happy hour drink will keep your garden going and make sure the garden stays your happy place rather than a source of stress.”
Yep, that sounds like a really fun approach!
Thanks for the reminders to stay realistic and keep it fun.
Amy says
Haha. Well, I came up with this approach because I needed it for myself! I’m, too, am an “all or nothing” at heart. Good luck keeping it fun and let me know if you find something else that helps to keep it that way 🙂
Krati says
How did you already harvest spinach ? Well, that great. I planted (direct seeded) my spinach in April and nothing has grown so far that could be harvested. Same for my cabbage, they are still young. The weather has been harsh in last few weeks, strong winds. I had to put row cover over my onion seedlings to protect the tender shoots, still some were bogged down by strong winds. I am in New Jersey, so zone 6.
Amy says
I seed spinach in the cold frame in March to get a little jump on the season. Sometimes my spring sowings don’t take if there’s too much cold or rain, and it’s been a challenging spring this year 🙂
Susan says
Hi, I love your blog, so many interesting things to learn for a newbie. I was wondering maybe you could give me an advice. I have some echinacea, lemon balm and bee balm seeds that I wanted to try out. Do any of these need scarification, or can I simply plant them in the garden starting May? All danger of frost has passed in my area by now. Any tips are greatly appreciated.
Amy says
Echinacea and bee balm seeds are best planted in pots. They’ll take a really long time to germinate and grow to seedling size, but then you can plant them in the garden (probably sometime in the fall). They will not bloom in their first year. Lemon balm, on the other hand, will germinate readily in the garden, so so you can sow it right away. Just be sure you follow spacing instructions–it will spread (a good thing as it can be chopped and used as a mulch if it’s too much for your culinary and medicinal uses). The bees will love it.
Susan says
I will do just like you suggested. Hopefully there will be some nice flowers for the bees next year 🙂 Thank you!