May in My Garden: Harvests, Challenges & Small Space Garden Updates

May always feels like the month where the garden truly wakes up.

After months of seed starting indoors, protecting seedlings from cold nights, and constantly watching the weather forecast, the garden finally begins to feel alive again. The raised beds start filling in, warm-season crops move outside, and little harvests begin appearing almost daily.

But if there’s one thing gardening in Maryland has taught me, it’s this:

No two spring seasons ever feel exactly the same.

This May brought beautiful harvests, exciting garden upgrades, unpredictable weather, and the usual small-space gardening challenges that somehow always keep things interesting.

So I wanted to share a little behind-the-scenes look at what’s been happening in my garden this month.

🥬 The Cool-Season Harvests Have Been So Rewarding

One of the highlights this May has definitely been the cool-season harvests.

Even though I’m excited about tomatoes, peppers, and all the warm-weather crops, there’s something incredibly satisfying about harvesting food early in the season while many plants are still just getting started.

This month I’ve been harvesting:

Cabbages
Broccoli
Kohlrabi
Kale
Collard greens
Strawberries
Calamansi
Orach volunteers
Garlic scapes
Beets

The cabbages and leafy greens especially felt rewarding because spring weather this year has been all over the place. We had a stretch of hot days in the 90s followed by cold, rainy weather again—which is classic Maryland gardening.

Honestly, sometimes gardening here feels like trying to garden in multiple seasons at once.

🌱 The Warm-Season Transition Is Finally Happening

May is always one of the busiest months in my garden because it’s when spring and summer seem to overlap.

While I was still harvesting cool-season crops like kale, collards, broccoli, and kohlrabi, I was also busy preparing for the warm-season garden.

This month I’ve been:

Sowing warm-season crops
Hardening off seedlings
Protecting seedlings from cold snaps and excessive rain
Planting peppers, ginger, and turmeric
Planting ginger outdoors
Rearranging containers and growing spaces
Setting up new citrus planters
Assembling a new compost tumbler
Moving citrus trees into larger self-watering planters

One challenge with small-space gardening is that once warm-season crops begin moving outdoors, space disappears quickly.

Between tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, ginger, turmeric, citrus trees, and all the containers that seem to multiply overnight, every square foot suddenly becomes valuable.

This is why I rely heavily on:

Raised beds
Containers
Vertical growing systems
Trellises
Dense planting methods

Every inch has to work hard in a small-space garden.

🍓 Strawberries Are Producing Everywhere

One of my favorite things this month has been harvesting strawberries from different parts of the garden.

I’m growing them:

Under blueberries
In GreenStalk planters
In containers
In DIY dishpan planters

I love using strawberries as an “extra crop” in small spaces because they tuck into areas that might otherwise go unused.

Planting them underneath blueberries has worked especially well because they help shade the soil while giving me bonus harvests at the same time.

🪴 I Upgraded My Patio Garden Setup

One of the biggest updates in the garden this month wasn’t just about plants—it was about creating a more functional space.

I finally upgraded parts of my patio garden using the potting bench series from Vego Garden, and honestly, it has made such a difference already.

For years I used an old baker’s rack to store garden supplies. It served its purpose for a while, but over time it became overcrowded, messy, and difficult to maintain. I constantly tried to organize it, but it never truly felt clean or functional.

As the garden continues growing each season, I realized I needed a workspace that was:

Easier to maintain
More organized
More functional
Better suited for the amount of gardening I do now

The new setup has helped make the patio feel less chaotic and more enjoyable to work in—which honestly matters a lot when you spend so much time in the garden.

And let’s be real… gardening can get messy. There are always tools, seedlings, pots, fertilizers, and unfinished projects somewhere. But having better organization systems makes the workload feel much more manageable.

🍋 My Citrus Trees Finally Got an Upgrade Too

Another big project this month was moving my citrus trees into larger self-watering citrus planters on the deck.

My citrus collection has grown quite a bit over the years, and recently I noticed the trees drying out much faster than before. The roots were likely becoming crowded, and the smaller containers just weren’t holding enough moisture anymore—especially as temperatures started warming up.

So this month I transplanted:

Meyer lemon
Calamansi
Variegated calamondin
Pink lemonade lemon

into larger self-watering planters.

I’m really excited about this upgrade because citrus trees can be surprisingly thirsty during warm weather, especially in containers. Having a reservoir system should help keep moisture more consistent while also making maintenance easier during the summer heat.

♻️ Adding New Systems for a More Productive Garden

This month wasn’t just about planting—it was also about improving the systems that support the garden.

One project I finally completed was assembling a new compost tumbler. Composting has become an important part of how I garden because it allows me to recycle kitchen scraps and garden waste into something useful.

As the garden grows each year, I’m finding that creating efficient systems saves time and makes the entire space easier to manage.

Between the new compost tumbler, the upgraded patio workspace, and the self-watering citrus planters, many of my projects this month focused on making the garden more productive and easier to maintain for the long term.

🌧️ The Weather Took Another Turn at the End of May

Just when it started feeling like summer was finally here… Maryland weather changed again.

The last few days of May have been rainy, gloomy, and much cooler than usual.

And because of that, I actually had to move some of my warm-season crops back into the tote greenhouse setups for extra protection.

This is exactly why I always encourage beginner gardeners not to rush planting warm crops too early just because of a few hot days.

Maryland weather loves surprises.

Thankfully, the tote greenhouse method continues to work really well for me, especially for:

Hardening off seedlings
Protecting plants from chilly nights
Managing unpredictable spring weather without a greenhouse

Sometimes gardening here feels like constantly adapting—and honestly, that’s part of the experience.

🌿 The Garden Never Really Feels “Finished”

One thing social media sometimes doesn’t show is how much unfinished work exists behind the beautiful harvest photos.

There are always:

Plants waiting to be transplanted
Pots that need watering
Garden supplies to organize
Harvests waiting to be preserved
Weeds popping up somewhere

And honestly? That’s normal.

Gardening is beautiful, but it’s also ongoing work.

This month reminded me again that a thriving garden doesn’t have to look perfect all the time.

Sometimes there are messy corners. Sometimes there are unfinished projects. Sometimes you’re harvesting broccoli while a pile of empty pots sits nearby waiting to be cleaned.

And that’s okay.

🌼 Little Moments That Made May Special

Even with all the work, May brought so many small moments that reminded me why I love gardening so much.

Watching seedlings finally adjust outdoors.
Harvesting strawberries straight from the planter.
Seeing my turmeric flower unexpectedly.
Picking greens after days of rain.
Seeing the garden slowly fill in again after winter.

Those little moments matter.

And honestly, they’re often my favorite part of gardening.

🌱 Final Thoughts

May is one of the busiest months in the garden—but also one of the most hopeful.

It’s the month where:

Spring harvests overlap with summer planting
The garden begins transforming rapidly
Every day brings noticeable growth

Even with unpredictable weather, unfinished projects, and constant work, I’m grateful for this season and everything it continues to teach me.

Small-space gardening may come with challenges, but it also proves over and over again that you do not need a huge backyard to grow meaningful amounts of food and joy.

Sometimes all it takes is consistency, creativity, and a willingness to keep learning.