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WHAT TO PLANT IN
May


Mid-Atlantic Region

Mid-Atlantic Gardening Region map new


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"Working with the earth, smelling it, improving it, watching things grow in it made me feel good. It slowed me down and made life seem OK even if I was depressed or sad."

 

Grow Your Own by Jeanne Darlington

Issue Number 3, May/June 1970

To read more about what to plant in other months and regions, visit our What to Plant Now home page.

 

Top Crops for Mid-Atlantic Gardening:

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Here are the Top Ten crops for Mid-Atlantic gardens, followed by other recommended crops, as rated in our National Survey of Most Productive Garden Crops. (The criteria for selection include ease of culture, efficient use of garden space and time, ease of storage and desirability at the table.) The recommended crops are sorted by plant family to help you plan rotations so that the same plant families are not grown consecutively in the same area, as much as possible.

Top 10 Crops: Mid-Atlantic Region

 1. Slicing tomato
 2. Sweet pepper
 3. Cherry tomato
 4. Pole snap bean
 5. Bush snap bean
 6. Garlic
 7. Potato
 8. Snow/snap pea
 9. Summer squash
 10. Bulb onion

Other Highly Recommended Crops:

Cabbage family:  Broccoli, cabbage, collards, kale, kohlrabi

Cucumber family:  Cucumber, winter squash

Leafy greens: Arugula, chard, lettuce, mache, mustard (all types), pac choi, sorrel, spinach

Legumes:  Asparagus/yard-long bean, bush lima bean, dry soup bean, edamame, peas (all types), Southern pea

Root crops:  Parsnip, radish, rutabaga, shallot, sunchoke, turnip

Tomato family:  Eggplant, peppers (all types), tomatillo, tomato (all types)

Miscellaneous:  Asparagusleek, okra, scallions, sweet corn 

VEGETABLES

Sow Indoors  

Sow Outdoors 

Transplant

Beans, snap

 

XXX

 

Beet

 

XXX

 

Cabbage 

 

 

XXX

Cantaloupe XXXXXX

Carrot

 

XXX

 

Chard

 

 XXX 
Corn XXX 
CucumberXXXXXXXXX
Edamame XXX 
Eggplant

 

  XXX
Endive

 

XXX

 

Fennel, bulb

 

  XXX

Gourds

 

XXX

 

Leek 

 

 XXX

XXX

Lettuce

 

XXX

 

Okra XXX 

Onions, bulb 

 

 

XXX 

Parsnip 

XXX

 

Peppers

 

  XXX
Pumpkin XXX 

Radishes

 

XXX

 

Radicchio

 

XXX

XXX

Scallion (green onion) 

 

XXX 

XXX

Squash, summer XXXXXX

Squash, winter

 

XXX

 

Tomato

 

  XXX

CULINARY HERBS 

Sow Indoors  

Sow Outdoors 

Transplant

Basil

XXX XXX

Chives

XXX

Cilantro

XXX 
Dill XXX 

Fennel, leaf 

 

XXX 

XXX

Horseradish

  XXX

Marjoram 

 

 

 XXX

Parsley 

 

XXX

 XXX

Rosemary

  XXX

Sage

  XXX

Savory, summer 

 

 

 XXX

Thyme

 XXX

RESOURCES

* To learn more about when to sow seeds (indoors and outdoors) or when to transplant your seedlings to the garden, see: Know When to Plant What: Find Your Average Last Spring Frost Date.

* To learn more about how to start seeds, check out Seed-starting Basics. For a primer on how to transplant seedlings, see Garden Transplanting: Expert Advice.

* Find garden seeds from great mail-order companies with our Plant and Seed Finder.

* Learn more about high-quality seeds and great seed companies in Best Seeds for a Bigger, Better Garden and Best Garden Seed Companies, or through our seed company directory

* You might also try swapping seeds locally.

* For tips on growing everything from apples to zucchini, see our Organic Gardening homepage.



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