May always brings violent weather changes. The temperature in May changes within 14 days from early spring mild warmth to summer heat. Showers are very often, and sometimes even storms are present. May is the month in which we get the most thunderstorms, and it’s one of the most dangerous months in this part of Croatia. 

Last year May was quite calm, with just a couple of thunderstorms, and the weather seemed more like early autumn than actual spring. We did get a lot of rain, but every rain came calmly, without any problems. As it seems, this May will be different.

We already got our first hail this May. On Sunday the weather changed out of nowhere, the hail clouds formed right above us, and we had no warning or time to prepare for the bad weather. Luckily the hail didn’t last long and it was mixed with rain, but since all of the plants are very young, even this kind of hail can be a disaster. 

I didn’t have time to cover or hide all my plants and seedlings. I managed just to hide the cabbage seedlings and cover the brassica bottles. The rest of the plants were left outside. 

The hail didn’t last long, but still, it managed to do some damage. The peppers look like they have been shot. Most of the leaves are damaged. Luckily the stem and the tops of the plants weren’t touched, so the plants will continue to grow. 

The hail and rain also did some damage to my new onion/lettuce bed. The onions are doing good, but the lettuce has been showered with dirt, and some were even drowned in the water. After this storm, I know now that I should plant big seedlings of lettuce in this bed instead of sowing the seeds. Seedlings will have more strength to deal with the stormy conditions if get them.

Still, I’m really happy that there was no more damage in the garden. There were a couple broken flowers, a few damaged branches, and damaged leaves, but no plants were lost. Hopefully, there will be no more hail, and if we get hail I hope we’ll at least have time to cover the veggies and flowers.