May Garden

May started out quite cold, but now it’s warm and mostly pleasant for garden work. This is my busiest garden month. I’m trying to get most of the crops into the ground. Bed preparation, setting up trellises, and fencing the garden all need to be done by the end of the month.

Dame’s Rocket has invaded our woods. It’s been present for several years and seems to have leveled off in intensity. It’s extremely invasive, and I've given up trying to control it. I can only hope it eventually gets some competition from native weeds. It’s edible (in the mustard family). I’ll try some flowers in a salad. It's a shame it's so invasive, because it actually looks pretty and gives the woods lots of soft color. 

The first potatoes are breaking out. I always plant two beds and the harvest from those lasts us almost a year.

I have never had a bad crop of garlic, and this year should be no exception.

I put my tomato starts into the hoop tunnel in early April. This year, I was negligent, and the plants got bad sunscald. They survived. I’m pretty sure they’ll be okay once I transplant them to a bed.

Onions are looking good.

A nice patch of lettuce.

The very first corn sprout is breaking the soil. I hadn’t planted sweet corn for a few years. This year I’ve got two beds. Corn, peas, lettuce, and sweet potatoes are the reason we have to fence off the garden. Deer will eat sweet potatoes, lettuce, and peas. Raccoons will demolish a bed of corn.

Sweet potatoes need to be transplanted to a bed soon.

Lots to do in May, but the food we get is so good.