WHAT TO PLANT IN
May

Southern Interior Region

Southern Interior Garden Region Map

ChardMixedBP

"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.

For planting times specific to your zip code, check out the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Vegetable Garden Planner.

Top Crops for Southern Interior Gardening:

Here are the Top Ten crops for the Southern Interior region, 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: Southern Interior

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

Other Highly Recommended Crops:

Cabbage family: Cabbage, collards, kale

Cucumber family: Cantaloupe, watermelon, winter squash

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

Legumes: Asparagus/yard-long bean, bush lima bean, dry soup beans, edamame, pole beans, snow/snap and shell peas

Root crops: Potato, radish, rutabaga, shallot, sunchoke, sweet potato

Tomato family: Eggplant, tomatillo

Miscellaneous: Asparagus, okra, rhubarb, scallion, sweet corn

VEGETABLES	Sow Indoors	Sow Outdoors	Transplant
Bean, lima		XXX
Bean, snap		XXX
Bean, yard long		XXX
Cantaloupe		XXX
Corn, sweet		XXX
Cucumber		XXX
Edamame		XXX
Eggplant			XXX
Fennel, bulb			XXX
Gourds		XXX
Okra		XXX
Peanuts		XXX
Peas, southern		XXX
Peppers			XXX
Squash, summer		XXX
Squash, winter		XXX
Sweet potato			XXX
Tomato			XXX
Watermelon		XXX

CULINARY HERBS	Sow Indoors	Sow Outdoors	Transplant
Basil		XXX	XXX
Cilantro		XXX
Fennel, leaf		XXX
Marjoram			XXX
Rosemary			XXX
Sage			XXX
Savory, summer		XXX	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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WHAT TO PLANT IN May