May days, spring bank holiday, the month of garden seduction. The time of possibilities. And, yes, I know there is a small chance of frost, though the sun is higher and warmer, early and late. We will have 16-hour days soon: from close to 5am until after 9pm. It’s the last month of the year where the sun is rising ever earlier. So make the most of it (if you can).
I know seed is harder to come by. It seems everyone is a veg gardener now. Flowering plants are also harder to find. Some garden centres and nurseries are facing oblivion. Many are doing deliveries, search plantsnearme.hta.org.uk to see if any are near you. We are lucky in London and found two within two miles.
Supposing you have seed, there is almost nothing you cannot do this month. Beets, carrots, chicories, kales, Florence fennel, salads, spring onions, chards, rockets, peas and runner beans can all be sown in situ.
Experts will tell you to protect more tender crops, such as corn, chillies and cucumber, and still sow inside. It is safer and they are probably right. I am trialling getting a little more ahead of myself, so will report if it goes well or badly.
We can all agree, though, on succession sowing. Stick to little and often if you can, to try to stagger the glut. Short rows sown every few weeks before you (we) are buried under a mountain of beetroot and rocket.
Keep an eye on watering, feeding and protection from predators. Check the pond if you are lucky enough to have one. The two at the allotments are awash with marsh marigolds and shuddering with tadpoles.
As always, try to sit sometimes, to soak it all in, and May is the best month for me. Stop to listen to the birds, so much louder now. Even the owls in the woods behind plot 29 are calling earlier in the afternoon.
Allan Jenkins’s Plot 29 (4th Estate, £9.99) is out now. Order it for £8.79 from guardianbookshop.com
