What to do - May 2008

Here's a list of tasks that you should be doing in your garden for May.

AROUND THE GARDEN

How is your compost doing? Decomposition should be well on its way, and soon the "bottom of the pile" will yield rich, black gold. Give yourself credit for keeping compostables out of the waste stream and the landfill while you’re at it.

You are creating a sustainable biosphere around your home by faithfully layering your veggie wastes with carbon (dried leaves, shredded newspaper), and a shovelful of soil. If you want to speed things up a bit, add some fresh horse manure or compost accelerator such as “Rot-It”.

Give all your plants, and especially veggies, a drink of compost tea. You can also use manure from a reputable source.

To make 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. Let this steep for a couple of days; finished solution should be the colour of weak tea. Dilute with water if necessary.

Children are particularly delighted if they’re allowed to dispense compost tea from an old slightly cracked teapot for this purpose – try to find one at a garage sale. There’ll be giggling galore, and the kids will be happy to water each and every plant in your garden with an afternoon “spot of tea."

GREENHOUSE

Closely monitor your greenhouse temperatures and air circulation. Temperatures can vary wildly from cold at night to boiling hot in mid-afternoon. You can purchase shade cloth to put on the roof, which cuts overheating substantially. Tomatoes don’t like to be too hot and get very thirsty as they are growing like crazy.

Begin bringing plants out of the greenhouse and slowly accustom them to direct light. Do this over a period of time, ideally at first giving them an hour of morning sun. They adapt quickly – no sunscreen required.

HERBS

Towards the end of this month, when evening temperatures are warm enough for you to be outside with just a light cotton sweater (or a t-shirt!) it’s okay to plant basil.

When dealing with basil, it’s useful to remember that it’s native to South Africa and likes it hot and fairly dry. Always use fresh, new sterilized starter mix, seed lightly, and hardly water seedlings at all.

It is common for basil seedlings to die from being overwatered. Basil is susceptible to "damping off" – stems rot at soil level, plants collapse and cannot

be revived. Knowing how much water is too much is an acquired skill.

Once basil has grown taller and stronger, it can tolerate more water, but never likes being overwatered, especially if weather cools.

If your garden is "sluggy", you might have better success if you transplant basil seedlings into pots rather than into the garden. Use a rich soil mix, or straight SeaSoil in the pots, and incorporate seedlings at 5-6 cm (2-3 in.)

As basil grows, keep it picked. This encourages branching, and prevents flowering, then going to seed.

Here’s another way to grow lots of basil: fill a large plastic plant tray (without holes) to 3 cm (1.5 in.) from the top with soil (see above). Now add 2.5 cm (1 in.) of fine seed starter mix and pat lightly. Carefully sow basil seed, trying for even spacing. Do this when you’re feeling calm, and not rushed! Renee’s Seeds sells some varieties of basil seeds which have been coated with clay, making them very easy to handle! Great for this purpose….space seed about 2.5 cm (1 in.) apart in all directions. Lightly moisten with a spray bottle, set in a warm place in sun. If you put it in a greenhouse or indoors, be sure there is excellent air circulation. You’ll end up with a tray of basil which won’t grow gigantically tall, but it will be thick and bushy and you’ll have scads to use and enjoy.

Perennial herbs dislike being fertilized with any kind of chemical. They need very little feeding – a handful of SeaSoil, a dash of kelp is great. Fertilizers like 20-20-20 can kill young seedlings of herbs like thyme, rosemary, lavender, oregano, savory, marjoram – in short order. These herbs have evolved to struggle a bit – so let them. If you like, it’s okay to use very small amounts of well-rotted compost (it looks like soil) on them – but not too much. Save most of that for your veggies.

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