The Garden in May — Catrina Sivula Blog

Hello, friends!

It’s been awhile!

Between pregnancy, house projects, and the day to day business of running our little family homestead, I haven’t had much energy to spare for creative pursuits lately. But I couldn’t let spring pass without writing about my favorite month in the garden: May!

There are so many reasons to love spring in the garden. Everything is green again after what feels like (at least in our neck of the woods) an eternity of winter. The lilacs and peonies and roses are blooming, scenting the air with the most intoxicating fragrance. Empty vegetable gardens have filled with spring greens and summer starts. The apple and pear and plum trees are setting fruit after buzzing with pollinators for weeks. It’s truly a magical time of year!

This year, I’ve challenged myself to succession plant more vigorously in my raised beds. Basically that means that instead of planting spring crops, then clearing the bed and replacing everything with summer crops, you layer things in over time. The first spring crops I had to clear this year were spinach and broccoli, but a couple of weeks before that I transplanted my pepper starts and sowed pole beans in the soil. This weekend I’ll be clearing lettuce and kale to make room for bush beans. By layering things in over time, you can get extra yield from your spring crops and help summer crops get a better start by shielding the tender seedlings from intense heat and wind with established plantings.

This year in the garden is particularly exciting because the perennials that were still establishing last year are really coming to life! It’s been over a year since we planted our grafted apple tree, and last year we had to prune the majority of the fruit so that the tree would send its energy into the roots. This year, we have oodles of apples! I can’t wait to harvest them this summer and fall!

Peonies are another perennial that takes a season or two to get going. Last year I planted two peony bushes near our blueberries and I was so disappointed when they didn’t flower. I’m happy to report that we have two blossoms this year! I’ll take it 😄.

I’m also experimenting with adding more flowers into my raised beds this year and so far, so good! Sweet alyssum has darling little white flowers and blooms through spring and summer, as long as it’s well watered. It grows low to the ground, so it doesn’t steal the sun from vegetables AND it attracts pollinators to the garden. I planted these along the front of my garden beds a few weeks ago and have been so pleased! Sweet alyssum is a new staple in my raised beds, without question.

I also layered in bachelor buttons, but they haven’t bloomed yet. I’ll keep y’all posted on how they do throughout the growing season!