In The Garden: May

May began with one last frost and chillier days, then started the nighttime warm-up that is spring in the Shenandoah Valley.

If that doesn’t lead to visiting plant sales everywhere you see one….

I bought a lot of lavender starts, which I am growing to plant around the house.

The beds are filling in and are very green.

I decided to risk it in the first week and planted most of my tomatoes, peppers (and basil). I did have to cover one night due to a frost warning, though it only hit 38.

The Clematis opened its first flowers as the month started.

First peas (dwarf) showed up on the 4th.

Everything is filling in. It’s that sudden boom in growing that makes you happy, as the cold finally starts losing its hold.

Not all is fun; I found more poison ivy to kill.

English ivy grows nearby, which I just ignore, though I shouldn’t. But it doesn’t make one all gross, so it lives.

The bed of Brassicas is filling in.

First Broccoli. I’d harvest a nice crop by the end of May.

First chive flowers, from plants I grew from seed last year.

Bell Peppers.

On May 5th, we reached 14 hours of daylight. The amount of daylight can often matter more than the temperature.

Comfrey flowers start in mid-May.

6″ radishes

Baby Bok Choy

It was finally warm enough to plant.

Mid-May.

Swiss Chard.

Nasturium leaves.

Various cucumbers.

Wheat sprouting.

Purple Basil.

Baby Bell Peppers.

Black Cherry Tomato plant – grown from seed.

Running 4 compost piles this spring, trying to create free soil.

Wild roses growing along the creek.

Last of the spring flowers.

Brassicas growingm the bed is filled.

A heat wave in the 3rd week pushed growth.

Herb bed filling in quickly.

Swiss Chard, Bok Choy, Lettuce, and Tomatoes.

The 4th week of May brought cooler temps and a lot of rain, with 1-2″ for days coming down.

Traded a houseplant I got for free, that I brought back to health, and got two Passionfruit starts.

The cucumbers and squashes loved the rain.

Bell Peppers growing.

Cauliflower.

During the rainy week, I added another bed for lavender, and one for a rose plant, on the outside of the garden.

As the month winds down, we are harvesting peas daily, and the radishes are nearing the end. Everything else is kicking off for summer, with life sprouting up daily.

The weather dries out after tomorrow and is slowly heating back up, which will bring so much growth.

How will June go? We shall see.

~Sarah