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Jobs for May

May is the busiest month for planting out, but don’t be tempted to skip the hardening-off stage. Gradually accustom indoor-raised plants to cooler temperatures outdoors so that they don’t go into shock and suffer a check to growth if the weather turns chilly

KG top tips

• At the risk of sounding like Father Christmas, hoe, hoe, hoe! There’s nothing better for any crop in the veg patch than keeping the hoe moving to stop weeds in their tracks and add air to the soil – it will save hours of backbreaking hand-weeding too.
• Pot on or feed outdoor tomatoes so that they don’t become pot-bound before they’re ready to be planted out. Root-bound plants will never do well, so it pays to give them this extra attention.
• Water outdoor sowings and plantings in dry spells. If seed begins to germinate, and then dries out, it will quickly die and you’ll have to begin the whole process again.

KG QUICKIES

• Thin outdoor sowings like carrots and beetroot while they’re still small. This way, there’s much less root disturbance and the remaining seedlings will grow on strongly. You may also be able to avoid the attentions of the carrot fly, which is attracted by the scent of the bruised leaves when thinning. As an added precaution, crush a couple of garlic cloves in a can of water, allow to stand for an hour or two, then water onto the seedlings immediately after thinning. This should disguise the scent and deter the fly.
• Keep earthing up potatoes, except for the salad varieties ‘Ratte’ and ‘Pink Fir Apple’. These delicious varieties have long tubers near the surface, which can be uncovered when earthing up. For all other varieties, it protects the tubers from greening on exposure to light, and helps to prevent the foliage (haulm) becoming damaged by frost.
• Sow a salad leaf mix either in rows outdoors or in modules in the greenhouse or coldframe. Most seed companies now sell a mix of different lettuce varieties, baby spinach and rocket, to give an instant mixed green salad. Nothing could be easier, and you can pick a few individual leaves when they’re required, leaving the others to grow on. Sow every few weeks to have enough saladings to take you right through the season.
• Basking (I hope!) in the new warmth of May, it might seem odd to look ahead to winter, but now is the time to sow kale, that most reliable of winter crops. Although it can be direct sown in the open ground, then thinned out, it’s more reliable to start it in a 7.5cm (3in) pot on the windowsill, then prick out into modules before planting. They don’t need to be grown in heat; the young seedlings will be happy near a sheltered wall or in a coldframe.

FRUIT IN BRIEF

• Stop pulling rhubarb at the end of this month to allow the plant to build up energy for cropping next year. Spread the leaves from the stems which have been pulled on the ground around the rhubarb to conserve moisture and keep down weeds. Water well in dry spells.
• If you grow soft fruit in a fruit cage, open the doors for an hour or so during the day to allow pollinating insects to do their work.
• Check the weather forecast daily, and if frost is forecast make sure that blossom is protected. This is most easily done with soft fleece or old net curtains. Frost is possible in most areas until the end of the month.
• Make sure that strawberries are kept well weeded. Carefully place straw between the rows and individual plants to keep the fruit clean.

For lots more advice, see this month's issue, available to buy online!

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