# May Newsletter: The Garden Wakes Up
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## Things to do in the Garden
### 🌲 Northern Regions
May is the big month. Frost danger is mostly behind you and the garden gets serious.
- **Direct sow** peas, beans, carrots, beets, radishes, and more lettuce for summer harvest
- **Transplant** tomato, pepper, and eggplant seedlings outdoors after the last frost date — harden them off for a week first
- **Plant** corn when soil reaches 60°F, and don't forget your squash and pumpkin patches
- **Finish bed prep** — add compost, work in cover crops, and lay down mulch while weeds are still small
- **Plant summer flowers** — zinnias, marigolds, sunflowers, and cosmos attract pollinators and deter pests
- **Thin seedlings** now so your plants have room to thrive instead of competing
- **Stake tomatoes** and set up trellises for climbing beans before vines take off
- **Keep watching** for late frosts — a light frost cover or row cover can save your tender transplants
### ☀️ Southern Regions
By May the South is already in full summer mode. Stay ahead of the heat.
- **Plant heat-loving crops** — okra, sweet potatoes, eggplant, and warm season peppers thrive now
- **Sow succession plantings** of bush beans, green beans, and warm season lettuce every 2–3 weeks for continuous harvest
- **Mulch heavily** — 2–3 inches of straw or shredded leaves will keep roots cool and cut watering in half
- **Harvest spring crops** — snap peas, spinach, and broccoli before heat causes bolting
- **Watch for tomato hornworms** — check under leaves weekly and remove by hand
- **Start watching for whiteflies** on the undersides of pepper and tomato leaves
- **Plant heat-tolerant flowers** — pentas, lantana, and black-eyed susans to keep pollinators busy
- **Set up drip irrigation** or soaker hoses before peak water demand hits in June
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## 🔧 Tips from the Trenches
### Squash Vine Borer — The Silent Killer
I'm not going to sugarcoat this. The squash vine borer is the single most frustrating pest in my garden. You can have a perfectly healthy zucchini plant one day and find it wilting the next. You pull back the stem and there it is — a fat creamy-colored grub chewing through the inside of the vine like it's an all-you-can-eat buffet.
And here's the worst part: the adult moth looks like a gorgeous red-and-rust-colored wasp. You actually want it around your garden until you learn better. It lays eggs at the base of the stem and those eggs hatch into the thing that destroys everything.
**What actually works (from painful experience):**
- **Row covers** — Put lightweight fabric over your squash and pumpkin plants the day you plant them. Leave it on until you see flowers, then remove it for pollination. This is the #1 thing that saved my squash garden last year.
- **Tape wrap** — If you forgot row covers, wrap aluminum foil or duct tape loosely around the base of each stem, extending 4–6 inches up. The moth can't get through to lay eggs. Sounds silly, it works.
- **Hose blast** — If you spot the adult moth (shiny red body, black wings), just blast it off the plant with your hose. One less moth means one less infestation.
- **If you find a borer** — Don't toss the plant. Slice open the stem lengthwise where you see the entry hole, pull out the grub, and mound moist soil over the cut. The plant will often root from the wounded stem and keep producing. I've saved plants this way more times than I can count.
The key is prevention. Once the grubs are inside, you're playing catch-up. Cover your squash early and thank me later.
### Tomato Blight — The Humidity Nightmare
Especially for my southern gardeners — as humidity climbs, early blight and late blight become real threats. You'll see yellowing lower leaves with dark spots that spread upward.
**Keep it at bay:**
- **Water at the base** — Never wet the foliage. Drip irrigation or a soaker hose is your best friend.
- **Space your plants** — 24–36 inches apart so air circulates.
- **Remove infected leaves** — Don't compost them, toss them. Blight spores overwinter in debris.
- **Mulch around the base** — Keeps soil-borne spores from splashing up onto leaves when you water or it rains.
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## 🌱 Seed Saving Tips
### For Peas:
Peas are one of the easiest crops to save seed from. Let a few healthy plants go to pod — don't harvest them for eating. The pods will turn from green to a dry brown and become papery to the touch. Pull the whole vine when most pods are dry and hang it upside down in a warm, dry, well-ventilated space. Once fully dry, shell the peas and store them in an airtight container in a cool, dark place. Pea seeds stay viable for 3–4 years.
**Tip:** Only save seed from open-pollinated varieties. Hybrid peas won't grow true to type.
### For Bush Beans:
Similar to peas — let the pods dry completely on the plant. When they're brown and rattling, pull the plant and hang to finish drying. Shell the beans and store in a cool, dry place for up to 4 years.
**Pro tip for both:** Label everything. I learned the hard way that dried pea pods all look the same once they're off the vine.
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## 🍳 Recipe Monthly
### Fresh Garden Pea and Mint Salad
*Perfect for your May pea harvest.*
**Ingredients:**
- 4 cups fresh shelled peas (or frozen, thawed)
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons feta cheese, crumbled (optional)
**Instructions:**
Blanch peas in boiling water for 2 minutes, then plunge into ice water to stop cooking. Drain well and toss with mint, onion, olive oil, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Top with feta if using. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
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### Simple Strawberry Shortcake
*May is peak strawberry season — don't let them go to waste.*
**Ingredients:**
- 4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 package refrigerated biscuits or homemade shortcake dough
- Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving
**Instructions:**
Toss strawberries with sugar and lemon juice and let sit for 20 minutes until juices release. Split biscuits in half and bake at 375°F for 8–10 minutes until golden. Split open, layer with strawberry mixture, and top with whipped cream or ice cream.
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## 🛒 Prepare for the Season
**Dark Green Zucchini Squash Seeds** — $3.12
Straight, cylindrical, dark green summer squash. Ready in about 50 days. A classic that just keeps producing.
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**Crimson Sweet Watermelon Seeds** — $3.12
Sweet, crisp, 15–20 lb fruit with deep red flesh. A Southern favorite that thrives in long hot summers.
[Buy Now](https://seedvault.market/product/crimson-sweet-watermelon/)
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**Provider Green Bush Beans Seeds** — $3.12
Reliable, productive bush bean that doesn't need trellising. Tender pods ready in about 55 days. Perfect for succession planting.
[Buy Now](https://seedvault.market/product/provider-green-bush-beans/)
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