Spring sun is the most important thing for the summer vegetables. 

Those 2 months of sun and warmth will define the rest of the season. Losing the May warmth can delay the harvests up to 40 days and disrupt the season so much that we lose the chance for a second harvest.

The May warmth is something I really struggle with. Forest garden is great when it comes to protection against winds and storms, but it has one big problem, and that’s spring heat.

The soil heats up slower than in normal gardens, plants that are usually sown in March can’t go in the ground until April, and if the weather is not perfect during March and April, the soil will be too cold for seedlings during May. I had many occasions in which my seedlings were dormant during May, and started growing at the end of June.

The heating of the soil is clearly visible even at small distances. A meter (3.2ft) of distance can mean 20 days of growth delay. A great example is my ajvar peppers, which I’ve planted to two empty tires. They have the same conditions, minus the different heat distribution. 

The plant which is getting more sun is bigger and starting to form buds, while the more shaded one is still small, and it’s a real question if it will have time to grow peppers. The distance between these peppers is really small. 

The bigger the distance from the forest the bigger the growth difference gets. I’ve been working on our neighbor’s garden, helping her keep the garden tidy during the week. She’s here only on weekends, and it’s hard to take care of the garden if you’re away the whole week, so I water the garden and do everything needed to keep it growing. Her garden is 5m (16ft) from my garden. We have a dual house, and the yard is fenced together, there hasn’t been any need to separate each garden. There’s even less need now that I’m mowing and cleaning both sides. It’s a small garden with just a few vegetables. 

Red circle neighbors garden

Her side gets lots of May sun. The forest on her side contains only Black locusts, which flowers during late May, so there are no leaves of flowers blocking the early April and May sun. This is why this side gets warmer sooner than my side, and vegetables thrive in early spring. 

While my vegetables are just starting, some of hers are already finishing with their first harvest. Like bell peppers, which have already finished with their first production. 

My peppers are just starting to give fruits. I do have tomato peppers, which have continuous production, so they may look better right now, but the fruiting time difference is almost 20 days. 

Neighbor’s first-level tomatoes are already gone, and she’s already harvesting the second level. She’s been harvesting for almost a month. The difference between the fruits is almost 30 days. 

Zucchinis in the left garden are getting harvested for the past 14 days, and mine still has nothing. 

The biggest difference is visible on brassicas, Broccoli to be exact. I didn’t have any room on the sunny side, so I’ve planted them on the shaded side. My brassicas are small and still have no signs of head. Neighbor’s broccoli is in the middle of the garden, and it is twice the size.

Since I’ve been taking care of both gardens, I can guarantee that the plants have been taken care of the same way. Both sides are watered at the same time, both were mulched the same day and planted almost the same day. Mine was only dug more often, which should actually help, but it didn’t make any difference. There’s just no way to compensate for the lack of May heat.