Last Saturday we got together in a friends house for a GIY meitheal (pronounced meh-hill).  A meitheal is a wonderful Irish term for a working gang – it has its origins in rural Ireland where neighbouring farmers would come together on a farm to help with a time-sensitive task such as harvesting or ploughing.  They would work for a day and expect nothing in return except perhaps a bite to eat and copious quantities of tea – of course, they also knew that when they needed help the meitheal would visit its generosity on them.

We have tried to reinvent the meitheal in our GIY groups – gangs of 5-10 people meet up in someone’s garden to do a job like building raised beds or shoveling manure.  Our buddy Dave has been on crutches for a few months and as a result he’s understandably a little behind on this year’s GIYing.  So about 10 of us showed up with spades and forks and got the place sorted for him while he sat in a chair and supervised with a twinkle in his eye!

The work done is fantastic, but it’s the sense of camaraderie and banter that really stands out.  There’s a unique joy in a gang of people rolling up their sleeves and digging in to help a neighbour. If there’s one downside to a meitheal it’s this: you may never want to go back to working by yourself in your garden again!

Things to do in May

To-Do

May is the time to get those outdoor beds ready for early summer transplanting.  Fork over and rake.  Earth up potatoes as the plants develop.  Put protective barrier around your carrots to thwart the dastardly carrot root fly.  Regularly hoe weeds and mulch. Water plants if required.  Support tomato, bean and pea plants with twiggy sticks, pea netting, timber supports with chicken wire, or existing fence or hedge.  Pinch out the growing tips of broad beans plants to help prevent Blackfly.

Sow

Indoors for planting on later: basil, dill, coriander, courgette, cucumber, sweet corn, pumpkins. Outdoors: winter cauliflower, cabbage, kale, spinach, sprouting broccoli, leeks, beans (French, Runner, Climbing French), beetroot, parsnip, turnip, swedes, radish, lettuce, peas, broccoli, rocket, carrots. Harden off and begin to plant out seedlings you have lovingly raised indoors – e.g. tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, brussels sprouts, sprouting broccoli, cabbages, sweet corn, leeks.

Harvest

May is another tricky “gap” month as stores continue to dwindle. Continue picking asparagus, purple sprouting broccoli, radish, rhubarb, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach and chard.  May is likely to see the first real bumper salad leaves like lettuce and rocket – as well as the first garlic, beetroot and globe artichokes.