May: in the garden
maria All Articles, Growing in a Box, Outdoor Gardening April, gardening by the month, hoop house, outdoor gardening, row covers, seed starting 0
May Gardening in New England
May is a busy time. On Mother’s Day, it has become a tradition to help plant trees, dig holes, turn soil, and add amendments for a fruitful season. I have two sons and I’m blessed and grateful for the heavy lifting they give to the garden.
Hopefully all the seedlings are doing well and all your favorite varieties picked out in January have developed into healthy seedlings.
The perfect size to transplant a cucumber.
Another option to start seeds is to use plastic cells. I have mixed feelings about using a lot of plastic, but plastic works well. I use cells a little larger than what you’d normally see at the garden center. I also wash out the plastic cells with soap and water, dry them in the sun, and store them for next year, only discarding the ripped and torn units.
Cucurbits grow very fast, and you want to plant them when they get their first set of regular leaves (no bigger than what is pictured above). When planting, use compost, and sprinkle in a granular general fertilizer, or add bone meal, blood meal, and potash (or ashes from your fireplace) if you want to go organic. After transplanting, water with a transplant solution made up of a general fertilizer, or fish emulsion with seaweed if you’re going organic.
