Edibles
If you planted potatoes in April, earth them up! If you’re not familiar with the process, it’s not complicated. You usually do this when the growth is around 20 cm in height. Draw soil up on either side to almost cover the foliage. This will protect the plants from any late frosts and stop tubers near the surface from turning green. It’s also a very satisfying task!
Once the weather is warm enough, you can plant out tomatoes, sweetcorn, cucumbers, chillis, marrows, courgettes, runner and French beans. It’s usually best to leave this until later in the month, again to avoid those late frosts.
For indoor tomatoes, check if they already have trusses and setting fruit. If so, start to feed with a specialist tomato feed. This contains nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium to encourage growth. Some people like to make their own, using things like wood ash, banana peels and Epsom salt. You can search online for ideas.
You can start enjoying the fruits of your labours this month – crops that should be ready to harvest include lettuce, spring onions, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, rhubarb (pick around a third of the stems only), beetroot, radish and peas. You can also start harvesting asparagus – cut the stems from 5cm below the soil.
Use straw to protect strawberry plants. This helps with weed control and keeps the berries off the ground. Garden birds will be interested in your fruit crops, so invest in garden netting to deter them!
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