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May To Do List

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  • Layer your veggie waste with carbon (dried leaves, shredded newspaper), and a shovelful of soil.  To speed things up , add some fresh manure or compost accelerator such as “Rot-It”.
  • Give all your plants, and especially veggies, a drink of compost tea. Fill a pair of pantyhose, porous old socks, or a heavy cheesecloth bag with well-rotted compost or manure. Hang in a bucket filled with water. Steep for a couple of days until the colour of weak tea. Dilute with water if necessary.
  • Start cucumbers, winter squash, melons indoors or in the greenhouse. Transplant before the third “true” leaf matures – three to four weeks after planting indoors.
  • Wait until the temperature is above 50° F (10° C) or even longer to put out tomatoes.
  • Direct seed outdoors: broccoli, corn, parsley, turnips, arugula, carrots, cilantro, kale/collards, kohlrabi, scallions, spinach (bolt and heat-resistant varieties), Swiss chard, beets. When soil has warmed thoroughly direct sow bush/pole beans, zucchini/summer squash, and pumpkins.
  • Direct sow hardy annuals at the beginning of this month.
  • Plant patio containers. Most flowers only require 15–20 cm (6–8 in.) of soil at the most. Fill the bottom with anything that will fill the space such as dried leaves, pop cans, pots.
  • Prune back spring-flowering perennials to encourage vigour; plants may bloom a second time.
  • Remove spent flowers of tulips, daffodils, other bulbs, but be sure to leave the foliage untouched.