Welcome to the 5th month of the year! As the almanac so poetically puts; “The great green wave of May washes over the garden, the irresistible result of the meeting of light and warmth.” – I couldn’t agree more, everything from shrubs to trees and even the grass seem to have popped into fireworks of green. It’s strange, my sycamore maple has leaf all over it already and the my copper beech doesn’t. That is until I saw this morning that the first leaves are unfurling! Soon there’ll be a dark purple canopy in front of the green. Can’t wait!

On the 1st of May we start the month off with the Gaelic/Pagan celebration of Beltane, celebrating the beginning of summer. Also on the 1st are May Day and International Workers day. The 5th sees International Dawn Chorus Day 🐦‍⬛, Cinco de Mayo, orthodox easter, rogation Sunday/beating the bounds (Christian).

The 6th is the early May bank holiday. The 9th is Ascension day/ Holy Thursday (Christian. Followed by Whit Sunday/ Pentecost on the 19th. Trinity Sunday follows on the 26th and we have our second May bank holiday (spring bank holiday) on the 27th.

In town we see the return of the Kingsbridge Food & Music festival starting on 31st of May and ending the 2nd of June, which is just fantastic as the pandemic really messed that one up for a long time (rightfully so of course) can’t wait to enjoy live music and amazing food again 🌯🍻

May’s full moon falls on the 23rd and is known as the flower moon, Mother’s Moon, Milk Moon or Bright Moon 🌸

The garden is waking up now and I’m loving to see old favourites return and new discoveries popping up (like the forget me not! 🩵), the first cherries are forming and I’m looking at planting the first things out this long weekend, I’m thinking calendula, some of the chard, beetroot and maybe even the dahlias 🫣

Still need to sow various beans (for drying) and my squash. First up a round of seaweed feed for all existing seedlings though. All in good time, for now I’m just enjoying the space I’ve got in the greenhouse and having the cats with me everywhere I go ♥️

The last month has seen me out in the garden so much more than the same time last year. I’m so happy I’m back in a place where I can enjoy it again without the previous disruptions. Added bonus for making it so much nicer is having the cats and occasionally the husband with me. Enjoying either the morning chorus before the seagulls descent to the roofs, or a drink in the afternoon sun. Once the beds are planted up I sure will miss hanging out with them in there.

This month will see more of all the tidying and sorting and clearing we’ve been doing so far. The phrase “Tidy house, tidy mind” has certainly got merit. Everytime a space or area get cleared the better I feel. Magic 😉

Everything is growing well and amongst the mess of ridiculously long couch grass (my nemesis) I’ve found little surprises of Forget Me Not and Foxgloves. naturally the latter has popped up in between paving in a path way 🤦‍♀️

Another happy find is the amount of the cherries on the two trees I’ve got. It’s looking like the best year yet so far since planting them in 2021. Must put little organza bags on them soon so the birds don’t get at them before I can 🍒🐦‍⬛

 

Happy May! 🌸