Gardening In May

Our garden was just starting to have some green spots in early May. The Kansas wind tends to sweep away any mulch we lay, so it is bare dirt and plants in untilled soil.

I chose 3 sweet potatoes from our basement boxes of last year's harvest to start slips for this year. Sweet potatoes have consistently grown well for us in Kansas, whether they're from the grocery or of light heirloom variety. I have always bought the whole potato and set them in jars of water to make numerous plants (except for the year we moved here in May and our thoughtful landlord-ess had started those for us already.)

My first year to try Easter Egg radishes and they grew colorful and well! 

That is cut leaf lettuce in the basket.

The horseradish my mother transplanted last fall all the way from Ohio is growing large leaves. I'm hoping that means the roots beneath are large as well!? We don't really eat horseradish except for in a wellness tonic, so maybe this is a plant we can share instead of gobble up every last bit.

Sugar snap peas are climbing the gate. Caroline wanted to grow these a couple years ago in her little garden. We are still using up seed from that bulk purchase. The children like to eat them raw, but they don't seem to produce very much before the weather gets hot and they yellow and die.

The pineapple mint is bushing out tremendously. We got a small clump of spearmint from old neighbors this spring and mixing these two mints makes a mellow sun tea!

Green bean plants are filling out. 

Peas beginning to bloom.

We ate most of the strawberries right after picking them, but a few made it to the freezer. 

The little girls enjoyed discovering those as much as eating them.

Some of the thornless blackberries we transplanted last year are blooming. I hope we can harvest a nice amount.

At the end of May, mulberry picking commenced. I think we picked for 3-4 weeks, making jam, crumble bars, and cobblers as we filled quart bags for the freezer.

Reaping the rewards of our efforts is a sweet experience!


May Garden Yield: 16 pounds of cilantro, swiss chard, 
radishes, strawberries, spinach, lettuce, turnips, and greens. 
Not counting the handfuls of mint we cut and immediately stuffed in glass jars to steep in the warm brewing sunshine!