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May mid month, no warmth! but leafy vegetables are growing well, tips for new plantings and covers

Written by

Charles Dowding

Last Updated

May 12, 2021

In gardening one is often comparing the weather and conditions with those of the year before. So far, spring 2021 has been diametrically different to 2020!

For those of you who started last year, you were blessed with lovely growing weather (in lots of north-west Europe at least), as long as you had access to some water. This spring has been considerably more difficult. Please don’t be discouraged if you are just starting out this year, we are because growth is unusually slow.

Ah Homeacres I feel confident that the last frost has happened, when it was -2.4 C on the 7th May. Night-time temperatures are now 4 to 8 C, 40s Fahrenheit, and daytime is more the issue, with a lack of warmth. Most days are 13-15C, high fifties F and no more. In these temperatures, and often wind as well, I recommend you cover new outdoor plantings of warmth-demanding plants with a fleece cover, just for the first week to help them settle. This includes courgette, squash, sweetcorn and (soon) summer beans. We even covered celery this week.

The final frost at Homeacres no dig garden on 7th May, in front are root vegetables for seed production I hope, under mesh, with lettuce under hoops and overwintered broccoli to right

Transplanting celery 10th May, showing the nice root structure in CD60 module trays, sown mid March and pricked out early April in the greenhouse, now has fleece over

Spring harvest of leeks Bandit, coriander Cruiser, radish FB 38 days, turnip Sweet Marble F1, lettuce new sowings, spring onions, spinach — Spring harvest of leeks Bandit, coriander Cruiser, radish French Breakfast 38 days, turnip Sweet Marble F1, lettuce new sowings, spring onions White Lisbon, spinach Missouri F1, this was 29th April

Comparing covers

On the 29th March, we planted two beds with broccoli Belstar F1, sown five weeks earlier.

One bed had a cover of cotton muslin, and one bed had the usual 30gsm fleece cover.

Both beds saw frost damage to young leaves where they were touching the covers, in the first week of April when night temperatures were -5 C/23 F. This prompted me to put wire hoops to support the covers, which I don’t normally do because of wind. The weather was not windy at least!

We removed the covers just before last frost, since these plants are frost hardy. Now we can see the difference in growth, between the two beds, and smaller plants which were under the muslin. It is an ecological alternative to fleece, and more expensive. More details in this recent video about covers.

5th May broccoli plants after removing the cover — 5th May after removing the cover – Belstar broccoli slower under muslin

11th May, the same plants which had been under muslin cover, now netted against pigeons

5th May after removing the cover - Belstar broccoli larger plants under fleece — 5th May after removing the cover – Belstar broccoli larger plants under fleece. Half way along is kohlrabi, and cabbage near greenhouse

11th May, same plants which were under fleece — 11th May, the same plants which had been under fleece cover

Small garden

Growth is slow but steady. Once again I would not have been without covers this spring. For example look at the reasonable growth on onions and broccoli, which have been under fleece until today!

They can grow fine in current temperatures, albeit more slowly than usual. The wind is perhaps their main impediment.

Homeacres no dig small garden last frost 7th May -2.4C 27F — Homeacres no dig small garden, last frost 7th May -2.4C 27F

Homeacres no dig, 12th May five days later small garden — Five days later on 12th May, after five nights with no frost

12th May onions and broccoli growing with fleece cover on top — 12th May after pulling back fleece which was sitting on these broccoli and onions, transplanted 20th March and they are shaded by the shed

Overwintered vegetables

In a slow spring, the difference really stands out between new plantings, and those made last summer or autumn. Without the latter, it would be a very hungry gap!

The cool weather has actually improved the period of cropping by broccoli plants, which are still producing lovely shoots a full six weeks after starting. Lower temperatures mean there is less tendency to convert buds to flowers, which would then have woody stalks.

A big loser so far is asparagus. I don’t remember when it was such a slow start, with hardly anything so far from my two beds of 9 m/28 ft length.

Lilia spring onion were multisown 2nd September, transplanted at two weeks old and have had no protection from weather

Garlic was planted mid October after squash, 2.5cm compost on top and the garlic is now intersown with Berlicum carrots on 6th May

Wheelers Imperial spring cabbage 10th May is ready, was under mesh in winter, sown and planted September

Spinach

This is high season for harvesting spinach, but not for sowing or transplanting it. If you managed to sow it under cover between mid-February and mid-March, you will be harvesting lovely leaves now. Likewise if you sowed it last August.

Make a note in your diary or calendar for this August to come, and have seeds ready.

Leatherjacket damage to spinach, shows as drmatic holes near the base and also centre leaves, is often terminal – I pulled this one and found the leatherjacket

Potatoes

There is still time to plant potatoes. You have lost only a little growing time, because of cool weather so far. We did a main planting in the new area on 6th May.

We planted them through polythene which is to reduce growth of bind weed, and we made slits in the black plastic with a trowel, vertically downwards to make a slit also in the ground/compost. Then we pop in the seed potato while holding the slit open with the trowel. It’s quick. See the latest video for new area and bindweed!

Most of my potatoes which emerged already have some burning of leaves where frost caught them. Some we earthed up with compost and some were under fleece, which helped at least.

Adam planting potatoes through black polythene 6th May, just laid with bindweed removed before last layer of compost

Frost damage to plants edge where touching fleece — Frost damage to plants on the bed edge where the outer leaves were touching fleece, they are set back but are recovering

Leaf lettuce

Growth has been steady if not spectacular, and I am keeping covers on the beds for now because we need the extra growth which that enables., in current weather

We are thorough when picking, to remove any diseased leaves, slugs and the few weeds. This results in very clean plants, less slug damage and quicker picking the next time. Plants should carry on cropping for another eight weeks or so, with the next sowing in early June.

Frozen lettuce leaves were good to pick, three hours after this — On 7th May early and lettuce in the middle will be picked two hours later but at this point all leaves are frozen, and that is after I removed the fleece

Lettuce after two picks so far, includes Lollo Biondi. Maureen cos and Tesy dark red

Leaf lettuce, spring onion and beetroot which are struggling — Leaf lettuce, spring onion, potatoes Sharpes Express, and beetroot which are struggling

Plantings under cover

Now is the time! By the end of May, all being well you will have transplanted tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, aubergines, peppers, chilies and perhaps a loofah!

See this video for how you can put a string in the planting hole, under the root ball. Plant roots then hold the string in place and it’s one less thing to tie, you just need to tie to a support at the top.

At Homeacres, all my warmth demanding and frost sensitive plants are still in the greenhouse, see video here. Soon they will be going either to plant in polytunnel/greenhouse, or a few outside under fleece, without hardening off.

Sown late February, aubergines now off heat and ready to transplant — From Delfland Nurseries as plug plants a month ago, grafted aubergines now off heat and ready to transplant

squash plants 20 days old, no rush to plant out — Squash plants 20 days since sowing, and I am in no rush to plant them out

Tomato plants and basil on the now-cooler hotbed, tomatoes sown 20th March and basil on 6th April

Greenhouse 10th May with many plants now or soon ready to plant — Greenhouse 10th May with many plants now or soon ready to transplant

Marigolds two stages, zinnias, French beans — Marigolds at two stages, zinnias, French beans are for transplanting in the polytunnel

Chard, leeks, sweetcorn, mostly in CD60 modules. We shall pot on the leeks, to plant after potatoes etc

New polytunnel

Another gem from First Tunnels.

First dig holes for anchor plates after careful measure — First they dig holes for the anchor plates, after a careful measure

New tunnel 10 x 15ft after three hours, luckily not too windy and they are about to secure the polythene

At 2pm, less than five hours after starting, Will, Luke, and Simon, the First Tunnels team, notice sliding doors

Wildflowers

All being well, we have some bees arriving soon. This prompted Kate and Briony to grow some wildflowers for them. There are many already in the pasture and hedges, and these will be a nice addition.

The first thing we did was to cover the ground with polythene, to weaken the growth of grass and weeds, before sowing on 7th May, just before some welcome rain!