What to Sow and Harvest in May

May is a very busy month in the garden world. It’s the main month that frost stops making an appearance. I use my birthday (May 21st) as a great indication that things can finally go outside. This year I have added a polytunnel to my allotment. Hopefully this will help with tomato, pepper, cucumber and melon production. Keep blight away from my plants and extend my autumn/winter growing season.

There are a few things in the list below that I would say to sow early May, I’ll put an * by those ones for you. Some things do great direct sown now, as the soil is much warmer. Things like pumpkins, beans, cucumbers and squash often benefit from a direct sow, as they don’t particularly like their roots disturbed. My direct sown beans did much better than the ones I started early last year.

So, what can we sow in May? There’s a long list to indulge in, a lot of them are repeat sowings from early spring. May is a great month for successional crops. Here’s a list of what to sow this month:

  • Basil*

  • Beans (Climbing, runner, dwarf, French)*

  • Beetroot

  • Broccoli

  • Cabbage (winter)

  • Carrots

  • Coriander

  • Courgettes*

  • Fennel

  • Kale

  • Kohlrabi

  • Lettuce

  • Ornamental greens

  • Pak choi

  • Parsley

  • Parsnips*

  • Peas*

  • Radish

  • Rocket

  • Salsify

  • Spinach

  • Spring onion

  • Summer squash*

  • Swede*

  • Sweetcorn*

  • Swiss chard

  • Turnips

  • Winter Squash*

There are a few things you should be able to harvest now. Things like:

  • Asparagus

  • Lettuce

  • Coriander

  • Pak choi

  • Parsley

  • Radish

  • Spring onion (overwintered)

GardeningGemma MorsonGardening