Heartlandbeat is introducing a new seasonal column–Celsea’s Garden! We want to share Celsea Martin’s gardening journey with you this spring through the fall! Learn how Celsea has turned her backyard into an oasis of plants and fruit trees featuring various veggies, fruits, and blooms!
Celsea Martin lives in Henderson with her family on the west side of town, where she has become quite the master gardener. Like many gardeners, she started a small garden with a few raised beds her husband, Tim, built on the west side of their house on Highland Road. After her small start, she was immediately hooked on gardening!
“After our first garden, I loved seeing plants grow and discovered gardening was very rewarding. By the next season, we decided to basically tear up most of our lawn and put in more garden beds!” said Celsea. Today, her yard has multiple raised wood and metal beds with paths meandering through them. Fruit trees have also taken over their yard. Celsea has about 17 fruit trees that will produce a variety of apples, pears, and stone fruits like cherries, peaches, and plums.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing initially, but I learned by asking others who gardened and by reading up on gardening a lot. I bought plenty of gardening books, which became my hobby,” said Celsea. She took notes, learned from her failures and successes, and applied what she learned to her garden. That’s what she loves about gardening: how she can learn from her failures and try something again.
It may seem early, but Celsea has already begun this season by growing some kale, tomatoes, and pepper seedlings indoors under grow lights. “I started my seedlings in early March, and I will begin the process of ‘hardening’ them off in a few weeks. I will start by putting the kale outside in a week or two for short periods of time until I think it’s safe to transplant them outside,” she said.
She will purchase other cold-weather vegetables like spinach, cabbage, and lettuce and do the same. Her tomato and pepper seedlings will be transplanted after the threat of frost. She admits it’s something of a guessing game, judging how soon to put out plants, but it’s part of the learning process.
“Sometimes I’ve had to quickly cover up my tomatoes with bedsheets when there was a late frost, but they usually survive. I’ve learned to be patient with my plants. Even when I think something’s been destroyed from hail or wind, I’m surprised that most plants will revive and grow again if I wait.”
Something new this year that Celsea ordered over the winter is a Kiwi Berry vine. “I’m really excited to see how this does because it’s supposed to be hardy in cold weather, produce white blossoms, and miniature kiwi berries. Tim will build an arbor for this to grow on since it grows like a grape vine.” We’ll update you later in the season on how well this new variety does for Celsea.
And speaking of berries, Celsea’s garden is a berry-picking delight! She has strawberry, blueberries, raspberry, gooseberry, and aronia berry beds. “My kids have a great time eating most of the berries fresh from the garden. We’ve enjoyed growing the aronia berries, but the bunnies seem to like them too! They have some great medicinal advantages, so I freeze them and use them in smoothies during the winter to ward off colds.”
Here’s Celsea’s garlic peaking out of one of her beds already! She says it’s always one of the first plants to sprout up. She has already planted her sugar snap peas, which can tolerate the cold. “When my peas are finished, I will pull them up and use that spot to plant my cucumbers.”
Early spring is also the time when she starts preparing her beds for planting by adding woodchips, chicken manure, and grass clippings. “I will always take anyone’s grass clippings because they are so good for the soil, making it nice and fluffy.”
Stay tuned as we follow and update you on Celsea’s garden this season! Learn along with Celsea about her garden successes and failures and the interesting varieties she’s planting this year.
