Welcome to our monthly series what to do
in your garden. This month is May and
we've got a busy month ahead of us.
Mother's Day comes in May and if there's
any moms in your family that are also
gardeners, I highly recommend you look at
a selection of gloves at groworganic.com.
We've got waterproof gloves, rose gloves, thorn
gloves, lumber cutting gloves, check it
out and take care of the mom in your
family. I know we spoke about keeping up
with the weeding last month, but that's
an every month event. Be sure and check
out our video How to Control Weeds
Organically, you'll find a lot of tips to
make weeding easy. May is usually warm enough
here in Northern California to put
out our warm weather transplant starts,
Tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. Start by
hardening off your plants. What we mean
by this is take your seedlings to a
protected location outside for one hour
for the first day. Do this each day for a
week. Add one hour for each day of the
process. By the end of the week you'll be
at seven hours and the plants will be
ready to be transplanted. While inside
the seedling stems haven't been exposed
to winds. Plants, like humans, need to
start our workouts and gradually
increase the intensity to become strong.
Play it safe and keep some Agribon row
cover on hand to protect from some
surprise May frosts. If your soil is in
need of a little boost before you plant
your transplants you can apply a little
bit of this All-Purpose Vegetable
Fertilizer or some of the Chappy's Soil
Inoculant. Get out your soil thermometer
and if the soil is warm enough you can
direct seed a lot of your seeds. Many
seeds like cucumbers, melon and squash
need soil temperature about 70 degrees,
but all of the important information is
on the seed packs or online at
groworganic.com.
If you haven't already done so be sure
and check all your irrigation. Check the
batteries and your timers. Check your
drip lines for leaks. Make sure that
everything is working perfectly so that
when you start your garden it's ready to
be watered. It's a good time to check for
pests like aphids, cabbage worms and use
the appropriate sprays or sticky traps
or beneficial insects. At groworganic.com
we have a Pest Control Solution Chart
which is very very helpful on the first
page of our pest control category. If you
planted onions and garlic last fall now
is the time to peel back the mulch and
give them their first shot of fertilizer.
Look for telltale signs of voles, moles
and gophers. And set out some traps if
necessary. Check out our How to Control
Gophers Organically video for a lot of
really good tips. Prune off any spent
flowers from your flowering shrubs. This
is especially important for lilacs
because the new growth is going to come
right where the old flower was. May is a
time to fertilize your blueberries and
other acid loving plants with this Acid
Mix. If your spring blooming perennials
have stopped blooming in May it's a
great time to divide them. Check out our
video on How to Divide Perennials. Take
care of the bare spots in any lawn that
you might have. Lawn Restore and the
Dr. Earth Lawn Fertilizer are great
additions as well as reseeding bare
patches. This Earthway seeder is a great
way to spread it all. Check out our
Organic Lawn Care video for lots more
tips. Inspect your outdoor furniture for
unwanted creatures living underneath and
it's the time where the stinging insects
are going to start bothering us. Be sure
and have something on hand and handy
just in case. Be sure and install some
bat houses invite the bats to your
property so that they'll eat thousands
of mosquitoes every night. And May is not
too late for successional planting of
early spring crops such as radishes and
greens.
Check your roses for disease and give
them a dose of fertilizer, Flower and
Rose fertilizer works great. If you've
had grasshopper problems in the past or
if your vegetable garden is close by to
a grassy pasture you may have
grasshopper problems in the future.
This is a Nolo Bait which is a
suppression for grasshoppers. You can put
it on a little bit early in the season,
like in May. As with all pesticide
products be sure and follow all the
directions completely, read the label
carefully, and wear your protective gear.
And most importantly don't forget to
enjoy your garden in May and grow
organic for life!