May is my favorite month to plant! It’s when all I harden off all of my seedlings, get them in the ground, and FINALLY gardening is in full swing. Again, I’ll be gardening on both coasts this month, so I’ll get double the time to get my fingers in the dirt {and only 1/2 the time worrying about what the HOA is going to say about it.} 🙂
Seeds to Start Indoors in May
I’ll be moving pretty much everything I’ve started indoors out this month, and since that will free up the grow light, I think I’ll start a boat load of sunflowers indoors to transplant outdoors next month.
What I Plan to Plant Outside This Month
I plan to get my tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and beans into the ground this month. I always wait to plant pumpkins and other squash until the middle of June because the harvesting works out better timing wise for me. If you have peppers, you can also get them outside later this month. If you plan on planting an herb garden, you can direct sow most everything this month. If you haven’t already, it’s not too late to sow carrot and lettuce {cabbage too} seeds directly outside.
Vegetables to Harvest This Month
I’ll have lettuce coming out of my ears this month–which is good, because we are still having quite a few salads around here. I hope to have Kale ready by mid June so The Girl can make her favorite Blueberry Kale Smoothie}. We’ll have spinach to add into our salads as well.
Houseplants and Indoor Bulbs
Houseplants should be awake now. If you haven’t recently, re-pot them with fresh potting soil. Give them a diluted fertilizer and make sure they get plenty of light.
Basic Yard Maintenance
Lawn mowing will be a regular occurrence this month {sorry, Monkey Boy}. Fertilizers and weed/bug killers can be laid down this month if you use them. If you have a sprinkler system, get it up and running and check out all of the sprinkler heads to see what damage winter did. You can dead head any bulbs that might be done flowering, but just cut off the flower and leave the rest to die back on their own. I have to get a wasp nest off the roof {somehow}, and I have been mostly dreading it. The HH plans to pressure wash the driveway.
Home Maintenance Inside
May is another good month to clean windows inside and out {or hire someone to do it}. You can take down all of the screens, hose them off and let them dry in the sun. It’s also a good month to have carpets cleaned–as you can leave windows open {without heating up the house too much like you would in the dead of summer} and they will air dry faster. If you have them, I would dust the ceiling fans {and don’t judge yourself for what comes off of them like I always do} since they will probably be on pretty constantly starting next month.
As always, most of my advice is geared around the Northwest, but you can find your garden zone HERE and tweak my suggestions as necessary.
~Mavis
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Cecily says
Have the HH go out there after dark with the pressure washer and blast the wasp nest down and squish it. That’s how we take care of them.
Carole Browne says
I have been waiting for May since the dark days of January. All I can think about is getting out in my garden and planting my annuals in front of my house. The house is ready for it’s spring cleaning (which my husband and sons hate, because they have to help) and it’s time to open all the windows and get the boy funk and winter smells out of the house. I love spring!!!!
Sandra says
If your wasp nest is the size of a football or larger, and you haven’t sprayed it with chemicals, a bee removal service may be able to remove it at no or minimal cost. I had a huge paper wasp nest hiding under the eves last summer. (Note to self: repaint the soffits a different color than paper wasp nest gray.) The Bee Man out of Olympia (hornetnestsfreeremoval dot com) removed it. I reimbursed him for the gas and bridge toll, as he usually doesn’t come this far north. He can recommend other bee removers who also may do the job.
Mavis says
That is really good to know. Thanks so much for sharing!
Alba says
Hi ya’ Mavis
I’m new to Oregon and am finding the slug population to be a bit overwhelming and it’s keeping me from starting a garden!
How do you manage the slug population? Like you, I have a four-legged companion so using slug bait scares me.
BTW I look forward to your article each day!