Old Farmer's Almanac Spring Planting Schedule (May)

As I wrote in my prior posts on my April planting schedule and heirloom seed sources and potato planting and asparagus harvesting, I am following the Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening 2008 Calendar this year. As a a relatively new vegetable gardener (most of my gardening experience is as a flower gardener), the Calendar is an indispensable help in knowing when to plant what.

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According to the Calender for my area in New Jersey (zone 6b), May is the time to plant the rest of the vegetables I have not yet planted. Here's a summary of what I've done to date:

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Outside the perimeter of the Children's Garden:
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*Asparagus - planted three years ago, the first harvest was two weeks ago, the second harvest was last week, and the third harvest will be in the coming week; I love perennial vegetables

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In the Raised Vegetables Beds:

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*Brocolli Rabe (pictured) - seedlings planted in early April were harvested last week and were delicious

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*Lettuce, Swiss Chard, Carrots, Leeks, Beets, Onions, and Sugar Snap Peas - also planted in early April, but not yet ready to harvest

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*Potatoes (pictured) - seed potatoes planted two weeks ago have already started to come up--I just bought the salt hay to cover them this week

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*Tomatoes, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Pumpkins, and Watermelon - some were planted last week, the rest will be planted this week

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*Corn - to be planted this week Native American-style with a piece of whole fish for each seedling--this is another great project with the kids, though you have to harvest all of the ears the minute they are ready before the critters get to them