As we approach the second half of May it’s time to start weeding and thinning in earnest. Thin your beets and carrots 2 weeks after they emerge to keep them growing vigorously. If you want to keep the weeds under control and save your aching back hoe regularly on sunny days and hand weed when the ground is wet. Learn more about The Importance of Thinning from our blogpost.
Time to Plant First Corn, Cucumber and Bean Successions
Start direct sowing tender crops for fresh sweet corn, cucumbers, and beans all summer and  continue with monthly successions starting late May and continuing until 60 days before your average first fall frost date. To provide variety at the table and more choices in winter storage try growing asparagus beans, greasy beans, limas, edamame and various dry beans along with traditional green snap beans, corn, cucumbers, summer squash and black-eyed  peas. Our bean growing guide and Southern Pea growing guide will tell you how.
Egyptian Onions and Other Perennial Alliums
Perennial alliums are really lovely at this time of year with bulbils, flowers and seed heads putting on an interesting display. May/June is a good time to preorder, garlic and Egyptian onion bulbs for delivery at the correct fall planting time for your area (mid-September to Mid-October) to avoid disappointment when you favorite varieties are unavailable later in the season. For more growing info read SESE’s Garlic and Perennial Onion Growing Guide.
Time to Transplant Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant and More!
Mid-month transplant tomatoes, celery, and peppers into mulch to keep ahead on weeding. You may want to plant eggplant into bare soil and cover with light weight row cover or proteknet for better control of flea beetles. If needed a bucket made sticky on the inside with tangle foot makes a nice trap for flea beetles. Put the bucket under your plant and just shake’em in. Happy gardening!
By Ira Wallace of Southern Exposure Seed Exchange and the author of The Timber Press Guide to Vegetable Gardening in the Southeast and Grow Great Vegetables in Virginia
