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Grow your own delicious fresh fruit and vegetables at home. Growing your own vegetables is rewarding both for your pocket and for that feeling of a job well done. It is also a fun and relaxing way to spend time with your children, and teach them a useful skill. So find the growing bag or planter that is right for you and grow the easy way.

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You can't beet it!

Michael Kelly has no shortage of ideas when it comes to the GIY-friendly beetroot

This month we will be harvesting the first of our new season beetroot – okay, so they will be no bigger than golf balls and will have been grown in the polytunnel, but they will be all the tastier and more tender as a result. I was turned off beetroot as a kid because the only way I ever saw it presented was pickled and floating in vinegar – fresh beetroot plucked straight from the soil and baked to retain all the goodness is a different matter entirely: earthy, tender, wonderful and incredibly good for you.
Interesting to note that we also still have about half a dozen beetroot from last year in a box of sand in the shed – they were sown in July, lifted for storage in October and we’ve been eating a couple a week since. They have held up well. They are an altogether hardier affair than the new season ones – about the size of large oranges and not quite as tender, but they taste pretty good still and make a useful addition to salads (raw, grated). To my mind this brings home why beetroot is the perfect GIY crop – it can be difficult to source fresh in the supermarket; it’s easy to grow; doesn’t demand much space and with a little planning it can be enjoyed fresh all year round.

Check list for 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 barriers 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, sweetcorn, 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 – eg. tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, Brussels sprouts, sprouting broccoli, cabbages, sweetcorn, 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.

Beetroot and goat’s cheese salad

Walnuts, goat’s cheese and beetroot make ideal bedfellows
Serves 4
12-15 baby beetroot
2 tablespoons lemon juice
80ml extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
70g baby spinach leaves and some
    small beetroot leaves
A bunch of flat-leaf parsley leaves,
    roughly chopped
100g soft goat’s cheese, crumbled
75g walnuts, toasted

Beetroot and Goat's Cheese Salad 1. Twist off the leaves from the beetroot (don’t cut, this causes them to bleed), leaving about 2 inches of stalk attached to the beet. Wash them well and pat dry.

2. Place them in a tinfoil parcel and bake in a hot oven at 220ºC/gas mark 7 for about 35-45 minutes. They will be very tender when cooked – pierce with a knife to check.

3. Take a beetroot and rinse under a cold tap (so you can handle it), then quickly remove the skin by rubbing with your fingers – if it is well cooked, it should come off easily. Repeat with all the beetroot and cut them into quarters.

4. Whisk the lemon juice, olive oil and mustard together in a small bowl. Season to taste. Place the spinach, beetroot leaves and chopped parsley in a large bowl. Add half the dressing and toss well.

5. Divide the salad among four serving plates (or leave in the large bowl if desired), then scatter with beetroot, goat’s cheese and toasted walnuts. Garnish the salad with some parsley, drizzle with the remaining dressing and serve immediately.

Michael Kelly is a freelance journalist, author and founder of GIY Ireland. GIY is a registered charity that inspires people to grow their own food and gives them the skills they need to do so successfully. There are 80 GIY groups around Ireland and 6,000 GIYers involved. For more tips, information and support visit www.giyireland.com.