What I’m Growing This May – Garden Tour + Tips
🌿 Welcome to My May Garden Tour!
Hi friends! After a long break (let’s just pretend I wasn’t gone for two years 😅), I’m excited to bring you along on a full garden tour for May 2025. Spring is in full swing, and my garden is bursting with life—from broccoli heads and blueberry bushes to self-seeding cilantro and sprawling raised beds.
Whether you're here for planting ideas, a little garden inspiration, or just love a good behind-the-scenes, this tour has something for you!
📽️ Watch the full tour here: https://youtu.be/cPEKTC0rLbM
Raised Beds vs. Ground Garden: My Growing Setup
This year, we’ve gone big. We’ve expanded to 12 raised beds, added drip irrigation, and sourced truckloads of mulch from a local firewood company (pro tip: you can often get scrap wood mulch delivered cheap!).
Here’s how my garden breaks down:
Raised Beds: Perfect for soil control, spacing, and pest management. I used square-foot gardening principles for layout—not the mix, but definitely the spacing. We got ours from Birdies Metal Raised Garden Beds – Epic Gardening
In-Ground Garden: Still going strong with kale, broccoli, herbs, and my forever-overrun mint bed (more on that below).
Trellis Zones: Growing pole beans, melons, cucumbers, and sweet potatoes upward for space-saving harvests.
raised garden beds, birdies raised garden beds
While the raised beds are amazing, I won’t lie—filling them was no joke. It took weeks, multiple wheelbarrows, and sore backs. If you’re planning to build more than 4 or 5 beds, prep your body and your budget.
🪴 What I’m Growing This May
This garden is giving! Here's a peek at what’s thriving across the garden this month:
🥦 Brassicas Galore
I’m in full-on brassica mode this month. I planted:
Lieutenant broccoli – recovering from a thunderstorm but bouncing back!
Brussels sprouts – bug-chomped but fighting. Need to reorder Bt spray.
Dino kale – my favorite kale variety by far; it tastes like a kale-cabbage hybrid.
Curly kale, red acre cabbage, and ragged jack kale – all doing well, especially in shadier zones.
russian red kale, ragged jack kale, curly kale
Tip: If you struggle with brassicas in spring due to pests, consider fall planting. Cooler temps mean fewer bugs.
🫐 Berries & Ground Covers
This year, I called dibs on fruit! We’ve got:
Blueberry bushes – planted in several zones, especially under the tree canopy.
Strawberries – planted under the blueberries for double-duty ground cover and harvests.
Prizehead & romaine lettuces – some are baby starts, others ready to harvest now.
🥬 Salad and Stir-Fry Greens
Swiss chard – going to seed, but I’m letting it! I love using the seeds to replant later.
Arugula, toy choy, and kale – great for fried rice, sautéing, or fresh salad blends.
Radishes – especially white icicle radishes, perfect for pickling and slicing into salads.
Fun fact: I used to hate radishes. Now, I pickle them and use them in wraps and tacos for crunch.
🌿 Herbs & Friends
Cilantro – self-seeds all over the place. A win in my book.
Rosemary, parsley, sage, and thyme – scattered throughout.
Fennel and comfrey – some intentional, some reseeded on their own.
spring harvest in May, radishes, prizehead lettuce, arugula, spinach
🚧 What’s Not Working (And What I’m Fixing)
Every garden has its chaos—and here’s mine:
🌱 Mint Takeover
Years ago, I planted mint in the ground. Now my garden bed is 85% mint, 15% regret. Unless you want a full mint takeover, always use containers.
🪵 Bad Soil from a New Supplier
I bought soil from a different company this year. Let’s just say... compost wasn't composting. It was full of chunks, sticks, and not enough nutrition. I've been topdressing with mulch and am planning to add more compost next week.
🌪️ Seedling Setbacks
A thunderstorm tossed my seed trays and my greenhouse. Many of my broccoli and onion seedlings were lost. I’m learning to over-seed and plant backups—and maybe invest in a sturdier greenhouse next season.
landscape fabric in the garden
💡 My Top Gardening Tips for May
If you're planting this month, here’s what I recommend based on what’s worked well for me so far:
Use landscape fabric or wood chip mulch to control weeds early. It’ll save you time later.
Plant carrots and radishes together – they sprout at different times and don’t compete.
Succession plant your greens and lettuce. Harvest one, and another’s ready to go.
Start summer crops now: okra, squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, and pole beans are all ready to climb.
Repurpose everything – extra seedlings? Pop them anywhere there’s room. Self-seeded cilantro? Let it grow!
🧪 Experimental Crops I’m Testing This Season
Trying something new each season keeps things interesting:
Yard long noodle beans – beautiful and prolific (I hope!)
Purple teepee bush beans – easier to harvest than green-on-green.
Kohlrabi – first time growing it; fingers crossed for good soup texture.
Many new varieties of tomatoes – excited to try them for sauces.
Zone 7b Garden in May
📽️ Watch the Tour & Let’s Chat!
Want to walk through it all with me? Watch the full video tour and see everything in action:
👇 Let me know in the comments:
What are you growing this May?
Have you made the switch to raised beds?
Is mint taking over your life too? 😄
Thanks for touring the garden with me. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube and follow on Instagram for more weekly garden updates, tips, and real talk.
