Collection: What Seeds To Sow In May In Ireland
A common misconception of new gardeners and vegetable growers is that once we get to May, it is too late for sowing seeds. Thankfully this couldn’t be further from the truth!
Tomatoes
You might think it unusual that tomatoes are still on the list in May, but they can still be grown from seed to produce fruit this year. You will not get the same value from the plants as you would had they been planted a month or two ago, but if you plant the seeds now in early May, you’d be looking at getting fruit from the plants in approx. mid August (weather dependent).
The benefit of sowing them earlier in the year is that if the plants start producing fruit in June/July, an indeterminate variety will continue producing fruit for you all the way until about October, or even later depending on the weather, so you get a lot more fruit from the plants this way.
Vegetables For Winter Harvesting
Now is a good time to sow vegetables that will produce food for you in Winter/ next Spring. Kale is a great one for harvesting through the Winter. Purple Sprouting Broccoli, if planted now will produce nice Broccoli spears for you early next Spring. Brussels Sprouts, if planted now will be ready for Christmas dinner!
Quick Growing Crops
Things like Broccoli, Cauliflower, Radishes, Spring Onions,Turnips and Beetroot will all mature really quickly when planted at this time of year.
Lettuce & Salad Leaves
Lettuce and other salad leaves like rocket etc. will all grow really quickly at this time of year, it is best to plant the seeds of these little and often so you get a constant supply and not one huge batch at one time.
Cucumbers, Courgettes & Squash
It is an ideal time to plant these now. Be careful not to grow too many courgette plants, they are such abundant croppers, it is often hard to eat everything produced!
Peas & Beans
Peas and Beans are great to plant now too. Now there is no need to start them inside, they can be directly sown where they are to grow, where that is in a bed or large pots.
Herbs
An abundance of herbs can be grown now. It is a good time to start growing Basil outdoors now as it loves heat. Coriander is a lovely one to grow outdoors now too. Coriander, if forgotten about, produces nice dainty white flowers that bees like, it also gives off a lovely scent when it is watered in the evening, although some people feel it tastes like dish soap!
Flowers
There are so many flowers that can be grown in May. One of our favourites that we grew from seed last year were Dahlias. They are really easy to grow and they produce stunning flowers. The mixed variety we have produces a beautiful mix of colours. Dahlias are technically an annual, but more often than not they come back every year like a perennial. We highly recommend growing them.
Everything mentioned here is in the products below.
