May Harvest: Top Five Crops to Reap in Springtime
As the days grow longer and warmer, it's time to start thinking about what to plant in your vegetable garden to ensure a bountiful harvest through the autumn months. Here are some recommendations for fast-growing crops that thrive in full sun and warmer soil, perfect for succession planting to keep your harvest coming.
**Leafy Greens** such as kale, chard, and lettuce are excellent choices. These mature quickly and can be sown every 7-14 days for a steady supply. Radishes, another fast-growing crop, are also ideal for succession planting throughout the summer.
**Bush beans** are another fast-growing crop that's perfect for staggered planting for continuous yields. **Cherry tomatoes** and other tomatoes, when planted in May, will provide summer through early autumn harvests, provided they have full sun and well-drained soil.
**Cucumbers** and **zucchini** thrive in warm, sunny conditions from May onwards and produce abundant fruit through the summer. **Carrots**, especially faster varieties like Nantes 2 and Harlequin, can be planted early in May for a late summer to autumn harvest. **Onions** sets planted in early summer will mature for harvest in late summer or early autumn.
**Swiss chard** is known for its tolerance and good summer performance, and it can be harvested continuously as leaves grow back. For long-term continuous harvests year after year, **perennial crops like asparagus** can be established, but they require patience as they take several years before yielding.
A key strategy for continuous harvest is *succession planting*. By sowing fast-growing crops such as lettuce, radishes, and bush beans every 1-2 weeks starting in May and continuing until midsummer or about 60-70 days before your first expected frost, you can avoid a single harvest period and instead get a steady food supply through to autumn.
In addition to these crops, there are a few others worth mentioning. **Mizuna leaves**, a fast-growing, vigorous crop, can be harvested in May and are ideal for regular succession sowings in batches every few weeks. **Spring cabbages** are ready to harvest in May, and their leaves can be used in stir-fries and salads.
However, it's important to exercise caution when harvesting a few other crops. **Globe artichokes** have a lovely, nutty flavour, but when ready to harvest, remove the heads by cutting off the buds with secateurs. **Rhubarb** should not be picked in its first year as it needs more time to establish. And remember, never eat the poisonous leaves of rhubarb.
**Garlic** can be harvested in May from homegrown plants, and proper harvesting prevents damage to the bulbs. For the highest-quality crop of artichokes, keep 4-6 artichokes per crown by cutting off any others as they form.
For more cooking ideas with globe artichokes, you can find them at BBC Good Food. Happy gardening!
In the realm of food-and-drink and home-and-garden lifestyle, continual succession planting is a valuable strategy for a steady food supply, as demonstrated by fast-growing crops such as lettuce, radishes, and bush beans, which can be sown every 1-2 weeks starting in May. Additionally, discovering diverse recipes that incorporate crops like mizuna leaves and spring cabbages will enrich your culinary experiences.
