What to Plant in May

Author: Monica Peters

 The third week of May is a good time plant broccoli, kale, mint, mustard greens, parsley, and sorrel.  Of course you can grow dark leafy greens inside your home in containers any time of the year too.

The fourth week of May is a good time to plant Asian greens, beets, Brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, carrots, celeriac, celery, cress, cucumbers, dill, endive, fennel, melon, pickling cucumbers, pumpkins, radishes, rutabega, turnips, watermelon, and winter squash.

To start your seeds indoors you will want clean containers that are at least 2 inches deep with small drainage holes in the bottom.  Fill each container with potting mix and place 3 seeds in each container.  Cover the seeds with ½ inch of soil and thoroughly soak the soil with warm water.  Put the containers in a sunny window and let them grow.  When the sprouts shoot up, you will want to only keep 1 or 2 sprouts in each container to avoid overcrowding.  Snip one sprout with scissors so that you won’t damage the roots of the sprouts that you will keep.  When the sprouts get too big for the container you can move them to a bigger container to keep indoors or to an outdoor greenhouse or plant them outdoors in a pile of good soil when the weather is warmer. 

Kale can be planted in pots that are 10 to 12 inches wide and kept in a sunny spot.  Put 3 seeds a few inches apart in each pot.  Push the seeds down about ½ inch and gently cover with soil – do not pat the soil down.  Water well and place in a sunny spot.  Water each day and you will have your own supply of organic dark leafy greens.  Each pot will provide you with a bunch of kale every few weeks during harvest season.  People with a diet that consists of 80% dark leafy greens have been known to reverse health issues.  Kale is known as the ‘steak’ of the vegan world because it is packed with protein, calcium, and all kinds of nutrients that the human body thrives on.

If you plant mint outdoors, you should know that it can take over the entire area and multiply each year.  Onions, garlic, and flower bulbs will also grow up every year and multiply on their own.  You can plan out your entire yard to have good food and beautiful flowers that will grow up each year on their own with little to no extra work involved once they are planted.  Some flower petals are also edible but you must be absolutely positive that they are organic, have not been sprayed, and that they are not poisonous. 

*

References

What and When to plant in Akwesasne. Retrieved May 16th 2012 from

http://www.SproutRobot.com