Master My Garden Podcast
- EP328 What To Sow In May & Other Gardening Jobs : May Sowing Guide
May 01, 2026
Episode 328
John Jones
This weeks sponsors:
Probio Carbon enriched biochar
https://www.probiocarbon.ie
Seeds Ireland High Quality Seeds: See link below for listener offer.
https://seedsireland.ie/master
May can feel like a green light to sow everything, but this year’s real challenge is timing: warm, bright days can turn into near-freezing nights, and that swing can knock seedlings back fast. We talk through how we’re reading those changes in air and ground temperature, why it matters for germination, and how to make calm, sensible decisions in the veg garden and polytunnel rather than racing ahead and paying for it later.
From there, we build a practical May sowing list that mixes quick crops with long-range planning. We cover brassicas like cabbage, calabrese and broccoli, including when it makes sense to switch towards winter-focused sowings such as savoy, red cabbage and Brussels sprouts. We also get into reliable staples and small-space favourites, from chard as a one-sow, long-harvest crop to herbs like coriander, parsley and dill, plus the moment basil finally becomes worth sowing once temperatures settle.
Succession sowing is the thread that ties it all together: spring onions, spinach, lettuce and mixed salad leaves need a rhythm that speeds up as warmth increases. We also run through root crops like carrots, parsnip, turnips and beetroot, then the warm-season newcomers like courgette, sweetcorn, pumpkin and melon. Finally, we switch to the ornamental garden with what to sow for flowers and colour, including cosmos, cornflower, wildflowers and fast-growing dahlias from seed.
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Until next week
Happy gardening
John