May/June Month of Garden Chores

Garden:

• Set out Tender Annuals- The last frost date is usually around Mother’s Day, so this is the busiest month for planting. By the end of the month, the early strawberries will be ready to eat. Replant new strawberry plants in a new area every three years to keep them healthy. Mow the strawberry beds after harvest to increase vigor and reduce disease.
• Direct Seed in Garden:

Cucumbers, pole beans, bush beans, lima beans, Crowder peas, field peas, corn, okra, carrots, summer squash, pumpkins, chard, lettuces, cantaloupe, watermelon, cilantro, dill, annual flowers

• Transplant

Tomatoes, tomatillos, sweet potatoes, leeks, romaine, peppers, eggplant, summer squash, winter squash, basil, perennial herbs, annual herbs, and annual flowers

• Put up bean poles
• Steak or cage tomato plants (June)
• Thin plants where needed
• Make compost
• Side dress plants with compost
• Hoe weeds when small
• Scuffle hoe between tows
• Harvest plants when ready. Pick peas daily for continuous harvest. Other plants ready in May include: Spinach, salad greens, radishes, cilantro, chives, mints, dill, lettuces, arugula, onions, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, tarragon, strawberries, broccoli, cauliflower. Additional Plants ready for June include: green beans, cucumbers, summer squash, new potatoes, beets, black berries, raspberries.
• Japanese beetles, potato beetles, and squash bugs typically arrive mid-June. Get row covers on before they arrive or knock them off into a mixture of water and dish soap (great project for children).
• By interplanting beans with corn and under sowing with white Dutch clover, there will be two crops from one space and the soil will be fed at the same time. When corn is knee high, plant beans in every other pathway between corn rows. Plant cover in the remaining pathways.