May Day May 1st
May Day Bank Holiday Monday May 6th
Spring Bank Holiday 2013 Monday May 27th
The first day of May is known as May Day. Spring is getting into its stride, hopefully the weather is warmer, the gardens are full of spring flowers and the trees are covered in blossom. After the dark days of winter and uncertain weather of early spring people are generally keen to start celebrating the coming of summer and get outside. There are several different customs that stretch back over the centuries such as dancing round the May Pole and crowning a May Queen. Morris dancers are out in full force at events all around the country and the Green Man, an 
ancient symbol of nature: fertility and plenty may be featured in the celebrations.
Other customs include women and girls rushing outside first thing on May Day morning to wash their faces in May Day dew – this will ensure they look beautiful for the rest of the year.
Ne'er cast a clout till May be out
The ‘clout’ part of this well known phrase is generally taken to mean ‘clothing’- specifically warm clothing - and can be understood to mean don’t start leaving off your winter woollies until after the end of May. However, ‘may’ is also used to refer to hawthorn blossom and hawthorn usually flowers late April and early May. The phrase may actually mean keep your winter clothing on until the may blossom is out – or until the hawthorn is flowering. What usually happens in the British climate is that you take off your winter woollies hopefully during the first sunny days in April, but find yourself putting them back on again after the first few days of May . . . .
Here we go gathering nuts in May . . .
. . . on a cold and frosty morning.
Here is another intriguing rhyme 
associated with May. Frost in May isn’t altogether surprising but gathering nuts in May doesn’t sound quite right! It appears that ‘nuts’ may actually be meant to refer to ‘knot’s’ or small bunches of flowers gathered for the May Day celebrations. The flowers may even be bunches of hawthorn blossom, known as ‘may’ – see above.
Originally, May 1st was a public holiday whatever day it fell on but this was changed to the nearest Monday back in 1871.
Originally, this holiday fell on Whit 
Monday, but because Whitsun or Whit Sunday had no fixed date as it fell on the seventh Sunday after Easter, it was changed formally to the last Monday in May in 1971.
The two bank holidays normally in May, coming not long after Easter and with a hope of some warm weather give May a holiday feel.
Asparagus 
British asparagus is coming into the shops now and if you are growing it at home you may have already had a few tender spears.
Bought asparagus will have a woody stem at the end which you need to cut off but home grown asparagus freshly picked and cooked immediately, will have virtually no tough end at all.
Steam asparagus for approximately 3 minutes and dip into melted butter or hollandaise sauce – or eat just as it is.
Salads
The first lettuces and salad leaves will be ready for picking now and there is still plenty of time to sow more. Try to sow a short row every couple of weeks to avoid a glut – mark it on the calendar so you don’t forget.
See this month’s recipes for a simple salad dressing
Rhubarb
The British outdoor rhubarb season is in full swing now – it’s perfect for crumbles, pies and fools.
It’s tempting to rush out and plant your runner and French bea
ns, sweetcorn, courgettes and pumpkins outside now but try to restrain yourself unless you are in a very sheltered spot – frosts can still be very treacherous until the end of May.
Content yourself with sowing seeds of sweetcorn, courgettes and pumpkins under cover. If you already have runner and French climbing beans in pots you can bring them out on fine days to harden off. If you haven’t sown bean seeds yet, there is still time just time so get a move on.
until the end of May.
There’s still plenty of time to plant more salads: lettuce and salad leaves, carrots, beetroot, salad onions and peas for a later crop.
until the end of May.
There’s also still time to sow some brassica seeds: cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, purple sprouting broccoli and calabrese. Don’t sow them in pots or modules this late in the season.
Sow them straight into firm ground.
until the end of May.
Instead of taking a
drill out and sowing a whole row, it’s worth sowing a small pinch of seeds at each of the final planting positions you had in mind. Protect each pinch with a tin can or plant pot with the bottom removed. Keep the slugs and snails away with a good handful of sharp grit (or slug pellets) inside the pot or tin.
until the end of May.
If you are using slug pellets this keeps them safely out of the way of household pets.
As the seedlings emerge and start growing, thin to the strongest seedling. Eat the thinnings like cress as a garnish for a sandwich!
until the end of May.
Once the young plants are growing out of the plant pots or tins consider investing in some of the ready 
cut sheets of protective mesh you can buy from garden suppliers. This will keep the plants safe from cabbage root fly, cabbage white butterflies and pigeons.