May is a magical month. We wake to bird song and go to sleep after enjoying the grand ould stretch in the evening. Our rural roads become avenues of the white flowering cow parsley under blossoming hawthorn trees. The skies are full of darting swallows and if you’re lucky, you can hear the call of the cuckoo.

On the farm, the late nights of lambing give way to fields of lambs enjoying fresh, new grass. Cows are also out grazing while some fields are closed off, ready to make silage.

Turf is cut and weather permitting, it is turned to dry out. I always associate being in the bog with being eaten alive with midges. It must be the good blood!

In the garden, you can almost see the plants growing. Window boxes and planters are being filled with flowering annuals and perennials take over from the now-finished spring bulbs.

No Mow May is a request to not mow the lawn to allow pollinators to feed on the early flowers. While some baulk at the untidiness of that, perhaps, we can all find a corner to let grow wild at least for this month.

In the vegetable garden, this is known as the hungry gap. The winter vegetables of leeks, cauliflower and turnips are finished and summer vegetables are not quite ready. As I try to eat seasonally, I am impatiently waiting for the first Irish tomatoes to accompany the salad leaves growing in the glasshouse.

In the Celtic calendar May, or Bealtaine, is the start of summer. There are lots of lovely traditions associated with Bealtaine which is considered to be a time when the fairies of the otherworld are active.

In some areas it’s traditional to leave bunches of wildflowers such as primroses and bluebells on doorstops and window sills. These are meant to protect the home from the fairies who won’t cross the pretty flowers. Some believe that putting flowers in the cow shed or barns is good luck and will lead to better fertility and milk yields.

Many years ago a few friends and I snuck out of home at dawn to wash our faces in the dew on May day. We were all trying to find a magic way to rid our faces of teenage acne. I can’t say it worked but it gave us hope.

In the Celtic calendar May, or Bealtaine, is the start of summer – and lots of traditions

The hawthorn is most commonly referred to as the May bush, due to its abundance of flowers during the month. It is also called the fairy bush and is steeped in our folklore. It is considered very unlucky to cut down a hawthorn. Farmers would rather go to the trouble of ploughing around a single hawthorn then cut it down.

In some cases roads have even been rerouted rather then cut one down. I remember hearing Irish garden designer, Diarmuid Gavin, say that he would never cut down a hawthorn no matter what impact that had on a design.

But the hawthorn is not just part of our folklore. It’s also a vital part of our biodiversity. It provides food and shelter for up to 300 species. The flowers in May are an important food source for pollinators just as the haws are to birds in autumn. Not only are these food sources for insects and birds, but also to humans. Yes the flowers, leaves and haws are all edible.

While they won’t make a meal, the leaves add an interesting flavour to salads while the flowers are pretty scattered through the lettuce leaves. The haws are great with blackberries and elderberries in a mixed-berry jelly to enjoy all winter.

Research has shown that they also contain antioxidants that are good for heart health.

Of course for many, May is the month to honour Mary, The Blessed Virgin. As children we would bring bunches of bluebells almost squeezed to death in our hot little hands to decorate the class May altar. In many rural areas, it’s a time to tidy up and paint the grotto.

So whether you are looking forward to longer evenings out walking, gardening, sitting with a book on the patio or the beauty of our fields and verges coming alive, enjoy the magic of May.