Seeds to Sow in May

Don’t forget the basil. 🌱

I’ve only one recommendation for the best herb to sow this month: BASIL. Sprinkle those seeds lightly over your soil and barely cover. Water just enough to make the surface visibly wet. Continue each day until you see those cute babies emerge.

Hooray for May!

May is probably the most active month for gardeners and farmers because you can direct sow so much now: beans, corn, cucumber, melons, squashes, etc. Many of these take just 7 to 10 days to germinate and kids will love this activity and progress well into summer.

We’ve passed the danger of frost in Zone 9b and seeds are waking up in warm soil all over now, whether you sowed them yourself or not! (I had a surprise burst of sunflowers pop up in a pot where I planted dwarf nasturtium… hmmm… I think the squirrels in my yard are joining in the fun.)

Warm weather crops started indoors can be safely transplanted into native soil, that includes eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes. Have you planted any of these yet? What about those tomatoes, eh? Can’t you almost taste them?! This year my mom and I started several of the varieties we saved that summer. She saved Pink Brandywine and I saved the Copia tomato that we demonstrated seed saving for at our first Tomatoganza! event.

Flowers as well can be scattered or pushed into warm, well worked soil: my favorites are alyssum, nasturtium, and calendula. These flowers may be self-seeding in your garden spaces already. But if you really want to up your flower game this month, plant pollinator powerhouses like sunflower, marigold, milkweed, and species of Tithonia (“acahual roja” in Español). These four are so bright and cheery, the attraction factor is turned up to 11 and native pollinators thrive on them!

I’ve got only one recommendation for the best herb to sow this month: BASIL. Sprinkle those seeds lightly over your soil and barely cover. Water just enough to make the surface visibly wet. Continue each day until you see those cute babies emerge. Of course, they’re other herbs to sow as well, but, like I said, I can almost TASTE those tomatoes. (And what would they be without basil?)

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Veggies 🥬🍅🥕
arugula, amaranth, beans, beets, carrots, corn, cucumber, eggplant, pepper, kale, melon, mustard greens, okra, squash (summer and winter), radish, tomato

Flowers 💐🌸🌼
alyssum, bluebell, borage, calendula, cosmos, flax, four o'clock, marigold, milkweed, sunflower, Tithonia (in Español, acahual roja)

Herbs 🌿🌱 🪴
basil, chive, cilantro, dill, epazote, lavender, lemon balm, mint, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme

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