May is a fantastic month for growing vegetables. The frosts should have passed (but do watch the weather forecast just in case!), the soil is warm, the days are longer and conditions are ideal for direct sowing – no greenhouse or windowsills needed. Whatever the size of your plot – a giant veg patch, a small raised bed or just a few pots, there are some easy vegetables to plant now. Just think, in a few weeks you could be harvesting your own home grown food.
Before you rush out there though, have a think – about what you like to eat, how easy it is to grow and then adjust what and how much to grow. Think about the size of your growing space, and pace yourself. It’s easy to get carried away, sow masses and then be on holiday when your glut of produce needs to be harvested.

Check your soil

Vegetables tend to be quite hungry for nutrients and will need to be grown in good, rich soil. They grow fast – many are annual and we expect a lot from them in a short amount of time. Add some organic matter – manure or garden compost – to boost the beds before you start growing. The exception are carrots and parsnips, which do best in free-draining conditions that have not been recently manured. The greediest crops are the leafy ones – brassicas like cabbage and kale.

Watering

Water is an issue, especially as the soil warms and begins to dry out in the summer months. I have very free-draining dry soil and try to save my water for the plants that need it most. Clay soil, although hard to dig and slow to warm in the spring, will hold on to nutrients and moisture for longer.
Water to establish, but then focus any extra watering on crops that are swelling fruits (sweetcorn, pumpkins, squash and courgettes) and those that make pods (peas and beans). It is better to water deeply and less often, than to sprinkle a little on the surface every day, as this doesn’t get down to the roots.

Hot weather

Some like it hot – tomatoes, aubergines and peppers will thrive in the heat of the summer, but there are cooler customers that are best sown earlier in the spring, and again in late summer when the temperatures are not as fierce. The cool weather crops – spinach, pak choi, rocket and beetroot – will show their displeasure and bolt (rush into flower and set seed) to escape from the conditions and put their faith in the next generation.
Grow lettuces in light shade during the hottest months and they should crop for longer before running to seed and tasting bitter.

Some Good Crops to Sow Now

Cut and Come Again Salads – this is the perfect time to sow cut-and-come-again salad crops. These varieties let you harvest leaves repeatedly over weeks. You can buy mixes of leaves, or to make your own, try a mix of ‘Salad Bowl’ lettuce, ‘Lollo Rosso’, Mizuna, Rocket, Mustard Greens and Red Oakleaf. Sow seeds thinly in rows or broadcast in a bed. Cover lightly, keep moist, and they’ll germinate quickly in warm soil. Once leaves reach about 10cm tall, cut them with scissors, leaving the base and inner leaves intact. The plant will regrow from the centre. Sow every 2-3 weeks for a continuous supply. Harvest in the cooler part of the day for the best texture and flavour.

Courgettes – even if you really love courgettes you’ll only need one plant to keep you (and the rest of the neighbourhood) supplied for the summer. Sow three seeds just to make sure that at least one will germinate and then throw at least one away (or donate to someone unsuspecting). The seeds of pumpkins, squash and courgettes are large and flat. Sow them on edge (thin side first) – just push them down into the soil and keep them warm and moist. There are quite a few varieties to try – there’s even a climbing type called Tromboncino, which can be grown up an obelisk. The most reliable is probably one called ‘Defender’, which will happily pump out courgettes for weeks on end. Make sure you check them every few days, as they have a habit of turning into monsters when you back is turned.

Sweetcorn – once you have tasted your own home grown super-sweet sweetcorn (picked as the cooking water comes to the boil), you may never be able to eat ‘fresh’ supermarket corn cobs again. There are some good varieties around, usually with the word ‘sweet’ in their name. The reason you should cook and eat sweetcorn as soon as you have picked it is because the sugars turn to starch very quickly and it loses its wonderful sweet flavour and starts to taste woody (the same thing happens with peas). Sow or plant out sweetcorn in a grid formation, not in a long row, as they are wind pollinated and stand more chance of successful pollination grouped together in a square.

They’re a hungry crop and need a rich, well composted soil. The corn is ready to pick when the tassels have turned brown. You can also do the fingernail test – peel back a little of the husk on the cob and push your nail into a kernel. If the fluid inside is milky, it’s ready to pick.

French Beans – I sow them twice, because I use lots of these, but you can get to the end of the season with one lot (just ask yourself; how much do I like beans?). I often sow dwarf beans as the second crop as they tend to be a little quicker than climbing varieties. The last sowing should be no later than July (June for runners) to ensure the beans ripen before the first autumn frosts. Good climbing varieties to try: Cobra, Blue lake. Dwarf varieties: Purple Teepee, Delinel.

Pumpkins and Squash – some will turn into enormous sprawling plants that will swamp your entire veg patch in an alarming triffid-like way, so be careful where you plant them and make sure they have enough space to grow. The smaller squashes can be grown up sturdy obelisks or arches, but the larger ones just need space to ramble along the ground, as their fruits can be too heavy for the stem. You may see pumpkins and squash being grown on large compost heaps, which suits them very well, as they need rich deep soil – and the warmth of the heap will also help with growth and ripening. Butternut and Winter squash are easy to grow and will keep for weeks after harvesting – make sure you allow the skin to ‘cure’, or harden in the sun to prolong their storage life. The smaller pumpkins are the tastiest, but it’s hard not to try and grow a huge Halloween monster…

Germination rates should be good at this time of the year, growth will be speedy – and the same goes for weeds. Pests will be proliferating too, so check your burgeoning crops regularly and try to deter them (organically and with biological controls to protect the ecosystem). With any luck, some gentle rains, sunshine and a little TLC, you will be harvesting your own home grown produce in a matter of weeks.

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