May Jobs on the allotment

Vegetables

• Plant out Brussel Sprouts, summer and winter cabbage.
• Sow in pots sweet corn for planting out in June.
• Sow climbing, dwarf and runner beans directly in the ground. As plants begin to grow, train shoots around canes.
• Sow cucumber, marrow, and melons in gentle heat.
• Sow Courgette seeds in pots from now until the end of May. Place pots in a heated propagator or on a sunny windowsill and water well. It does not matter if the seeds are sown on their sides or flat, contrary to Old Wives Tales.
• Prick out your newly emerged seedlings and pot on to encourage healthy growth before you transplant them outside.
• Sow short rows of lettuce fortnightly.
• Tomato plants that have been raised under glass can be planted outside in warmer areas. Make sure to harden plants off first.
• Transplant pencil thick leeks into final position.
• Control slugs and snails.
• Plant bought in Celery seedlings from now until June in a sunny spot. The crop will grow best if planted in a grid.
• To get a regular supply of beetroot, sow a row every month. If space is short, you can sow them in a pot. If the seedlings you sowed earlier are overcrowded, thin them out. The leaves can be used in salads.
• The main threat to your crop is carrot fly. Reduce the risk of an attack by thinning plants and placing a shield around your seedlings.
• Pinch out side shoots and tendrils from cordon grown sweet peas.        

Fruit

• Untie and retrain branches of wall-trained figs that have been bundled together for protection, prune as necessary.
• Pick protected strawberries and gooseberry thinnings.
• Open one side of fruit cage to allow entry for pollinating insects.
• Protect blossoms from frosts.
• Mow grass around trees.
• Water well after flowering plants especially stone fruits.
• Ring bark over vigorous apple and pear trees.
• De-blossom newly planted trees.
• Late May remove the polythene cover from wall-trained peaches and nectarines
• Remove unwanted shoots from raspberries.
• Thin gooseberries in late may if large fruits required.
• Never use insecticides during flowering, may kill pollinating insects.
• Continue control against pear scab.
• Start netting all fruit at the first sign of ripening.
• Look to start spraying against Pests and Diseases.
• Put straw around strawberries. Deter slugs use slug pellets. Minimize risk of bird damage use netting.