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May

May is the month when everything takes off in the garden as the days are getting longer and the weather is warming up.

You could be harvesting:

  • Rhubarb
  • Radish
  • Salad leaves
  • Herbs
  • Early garlic
  • The last of the kale
  • Purple sprouting broccoli

Go Wild...

Whilst we all want our vegetable growing spaces to be weed free and tidy, it’s really good to let a small area at the edges of the garden go wild with long grasses and native plants. This provides a fantastic home and habitat for wildlife and insects.

To Do List

  • Keep weeding
  • ‘Earth-up’ potatoes if you have them growing in open ground or raised beds.
  • Plant out lettuce, parsley, peas, beans if you have been growing them inside – remember to harden them off first (as in April).
  • Plant seeds of pumpkins or courgettes inside in 9cm pots.
  • Harvest herbs – chives, thyme, rosemary, parsley
  • Plant edible flowers – nasturtiums and violas
  • Sow kale and purple sprouting broccoli

Curriculum Resources

May Key Stage 1
PDF - 2.8 MB

May Key Stage 2
DOC - 1.1 MB

May Literacy Key Stage 1 (SEN)
PDF - 1.4 MB

May Literacy Key Stage 2 (SEN)
PDF - 1.3 MB

May Science Key Stage 1 (SEN)
PDF - 1.4 MB

May Science Key Stage 2 (SEN)
PDF - 1.7 MB

Protect your crops from slugs!

Slugs are the nemesis of every gardener. If you see nibbled edges, or worse, a row of seedlings practically disappear overnight then it is probably marauding slugs! If you see them, pick them off, although this is unlikely in daylight hours.

You can buy organically approved (ferric phosphate) slug pellets in the garden centre which do not cause harm to other wildlife and are effective.

You can also put out empty grapefruit halves or indeed an upturned flowerpot to act as a trap just remember to check them daily and remove the slugs!