Early May Garden To-Do List
We’re deep into spring now, and the garden is coming alive with both cool- and warm-season crops. This is the window when lettuce tastes its best, cilantro is still playing nice, and cabbages are sizing up—but don’t blink! A stretch of hot weather and these spring darlings will bolt or go bitter. The key right now is to stay present, harvest frequently, and ease your way into summer plantings.
Harvest Time: Lettuce Love & Cilantro Urgency
🥬 Lettuce is at its peak.
Cut outer leaves often to keep it growing.
If you notice the center elongating (aka bolting), harvest the whole head—it’s about to get bitter.
Make best friends with your salad spinner. The OXO Good Grips Large Salad Spinner has been serving me well for a decade, and it definitely gets heavy use in my kitchen.
Get creative with your salads! Find inspiration in this article by Sarah.
🌿 Cilantro watch:
This herb is quick to bolt as the weather warms. Harvest generously and regularly before it flowers.
If you don’t have use for all the cilantro in your kitchen right now, try chopping the leaves and freezing them in lime juice ice cubes. Or let the plants flower and collect the seeds; these are actually another spice for your pantry — corriander!
🥕 Other spring favorites:
Arugula, spinach, chard, kale, and radishes should be ready now or very soon.
Sugar snap peas are starting to flower and form pods. They produce slowly at first, but will take off soon. It’s best to harvest them when pods are at just the right size (do a taste test!), even if you don’t have a full serving of them at once. I keep a small container in the fridge and add a handful of peas to it every day, then eat them every three days or so. Or more likely, I just snack on them all when I’m out in the garden.
Keep snipping herbs. A small bunch of chives, oregano, thyme, and parsley is amazing to add to scrambled eggs, salads, sautéed veggies, or used to make a compound butter.
Thinning for (Plant) Health & Harvest
✂ Thinning Root Crops:
Carrots, beets, and turnips should be thinned to final spacing (usually 2–3 inches) to allow roots to develop properly. Snip extras at the soil line and enjoy the baby greens in your salad.
🥗 Thinning Salad Greens:
If you planted lettuce or spinach densely, it’s time to begin thinning by harvesting whole plants or outer leaves. This gives the remaining plants room to thrive and helps prevent overcrowding and disease.
For more details on thinning veggies, check out this Q&A article — video included!
Planting: The Great Overlap
🌿 Wrap Up Cool-Season Planting:
If you have plenty of room and you really love these crops, it’s your last chance to direct sow radishes, lettuce, spinach, and arugula. Perhaps on the shadier side of some large kale or your pea trellis.
☀️ Begin Warm-Season Planting:
As soil temps rise and nights stay above 50°F, you can safely plant:
Veggies and fruits: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, melons, beans, okra, sweet potatoes
Herbs: basil, tulsi, lemon basil, thai basil, lemongrass, steveia, ginger, turmeric
Flowers: zinnia, cosmos, sunflowers, marigold, gomphrena, celosia, dahlias (and so many more!)
The dilemma: If your garden is still full of spring crops, you don’t need rush to plant warm-season veggies. Fill in spaces as they open up over the first couple weeks of May.
Water & Weather Watch
🌧️ Check soil before watering.
With spring storms in the forecast, be sure to pause irrigation systems after a good soaking.
Water deeply and in the morning when needed.
🌬️ Storm prep:
Middle Tennesseans are very aware these days that strong storms can pop up at any moment. Make sure your vertical structures and trellises are sturdy and in place when you plant. Secure tall plants and flowers to these as they grow and you’ll be ready before a windy day makes it urgent.
🐛 Pest Patrol: Time to Stay Vigilant
Aphids are loving the tender new spring growth. Blast them off with a strong spray of water or use insecticidal soap if needed. If you see ladybugs in the garden, let them do the work—avoid spraying those areas.
Cabbage worms (green caterpillars from those small white moths) are likely munching your brassicas. Handpick and squish or treat with BT (Bacillus thuringiensis), reapplying every 7–10 days.
Slugs are thriving in damp conditions. Try iron phosphate slug bait, and reapply after rain. You can also handpick in the early morning or use beer traps.
Flea beetles may start to show up on arugula and radish greens. Use row cover to keep them off and try diatomaceous earth on dry days.
Check under leaves and along stems regularly. Early detection makes a huge difference!
Ongoing Garden Tasks
👷 Weed Weekly – Weeds are growing fast; shallow hoeing is your best friend.
🔁 Compost & Fertilize – Top up beds and side-dress heavy feeders like brassicas and onions.
📝 Update Your Journal – Future You will be so grateful you wrote down the date you seeded those beans and what variety you planted. If Future You is anything like Future Me, she definitely won’t keep all that info in her head.
Mindset Matters
Late April through early May is a moment of abundance and transition. Don’t let waiting for perfect weather or perfect timing stress you out. Instead, enjoy the harvests that are coming in daily now, celebrate the shifting season, and take joy in the act of planting your future summer feasts. Your garden is right on track—and so are you.
