We've been busy on the farm this week, rejoicing in the spring sunshine, planting out more and more crops, putting up our crop support structures, and getting to the last of our sowings for the season.

May is just around the corner, and next week is Beltane (Friday 1st May) - this traditional Gaelic festival marks the midway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, easing us from the peak of spring into the oncoming summer months. Beltane is often celebrated with a feast, a dance, and a fire, to bless the oncoming crops and bring health and fertility to land and people.

May is a busy month both in the garden and in the land around us. Birds are busy with their broods, making nests and feeding young, and at this time of year the dawn chorus is a major spectacle. Hedgerows are ablaze with Red campion, Greater stitchwort, flowering Wild garlic and Bluebells, and now the tree canopy is beginning to fill above our heads, with the oak's great golden crowns returning.

May in the garden is quite a joyful time, with seedlings taking off and the first crops in the ground. Here are some jobs to keep an eye on this month:

Practical Tips for Your May Garden

1. Sowing:

There's still more opportunities to sow varieties you haven't yet sown, and it's a good time to consider any successional sowings you might like. You can sow flushes of salads to ensure a continuous harvest, as well as staggering things like peas, beans, spring onions, Asian greens, carrots, beetroot and radish to maintain your bounty. When it comes to harvesting, picking your ripe fruits and vegetables regularly will encourage more production, as will regularly cutting your flowers to ensure they keep coming.

2. Watering:

Ensure you keep a steady and considered watering routine for seedlings, ideally in the morning, to keep them healthy and strong. If you've planted crops out, it's a good idea to give them a proper drink at first to allow them to establish. As the season goes on, water less frequently but more abundantly to encourage deep root growth, and of course stay in touch with the weather.

Bear in mind that there is still plenty of chance for frosts. Open up your propagation space during hot days, and close them again at night - you can also cover tender seedlings with mesh.

3. Bed preparation:

With all those eager seedlings developing, it's important to prepare your indoor and outdoor beds in time for planting. Weed out any unwanted plants from the area, using a hoe or hand tool, and apply a good layer of compost to increase the organic matter in the soil. For hungry crops, like Squash, Beans and Chillies, adding extra compost or manure is always a good idea.
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​4. Structures:

Now that we're getting closer to planting time, it's important to consider the structural support some plants will need and what materials you have access to. Bamboo canes or stakes, and string, mesh or netting go a long way in creating support for a broad range of climbing plants, such as sweet peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, peas and beans. Many cut flowers will require additional support to ensure a longer blooming time - consider using bamboo stakes and string to create a net for the blooms to grow up through.

5. Find Joy

Whilst May feels like a busy month, from sowing to planting, it is also a month full of change and beauty. Finding the time to stop and notice these changes will likely support both you and your growing space. Taking a moment to walk through the garden with your morning brew, or in the now-light evenings, is an enjoyable way to check in with yourself and your plants - noticing what's germinating, what bird song is present, or how the freshly planted beans are doing. Whilst the rush of growing can sometimes feel daunting, taking these moments is a helpful reminder of why we do what we do!

Life on the land this week - including Orange-tip butterflies, Carder bees, and Ashy mining bees

It looks set to be a warm and dry weekend for most of us across the UK, so here's hoping you all get the chance to spend time outside, tending to your growing space and soaking up the sunshine!

Blessed Beltane,

Izzy and the rest of the team at Vital Seeds