It’s mid-May and Celsea’s garden is beginning to flourish!
Green and yellow sugar snap pea varieties are already climbing the trellises at Celsea’s garden! After the peas are finished, this bed will be planted with winter squash, such as acorn and butternut.
Overall, Celsea’s garden is thriving, but she has observed some heat stress due to the extreme heat we’ve had this May and the occasional damage from the bunnies who found a hole in the fence!
“Fortunately, we have a buried irrigation system installed for the tomatoes, and everything else has above-ground sprayers. We are repairing a few cracks that occurred during the winter in the system, but it is set up with a timer to automatically water early in the morning, so it’s much less work for me,” said Celsea.
Celsea’s creativity is evident in her garden, and she says, “I like to mix things up and see what happens.” This year, she alternated tomatoes and peppers in duplicate rows and incorporated herbs such as basil, marigolds, and alyssum. She hopes the marigolds will deter certain pests and the alyssum will attract pollinators, benefiting her tomatoes and peppers. “I have several varieties of peppers—Mini Bell, Shishito, Jalapenos, and Poblano this year.”
Rows of carrots, onions, and beets are planted together for the same reasons and to provide shade for each other.
Another new planting for Celsea this season is peanuts. “I don’t know how well they will do, but even if they don’t produce, they will be good for the soil.”
Tripod poles have been set up for her first-time-growing dry beans: Anasazi, Hidatsa, Peregion, Snow Cap, and Good Mother Stallard.
Metal hooped trellises will be home for some unique new varieties of Chinese Noodle Beans and Asian Yard Long Beans. “I planted these thinking it would be fun for the kids to watch these unusual beans grow a yard long!. Just something to keep everyone interested,” said Celesa.
Her Kale, Lettuce, and Chard plants are well established, and the Tuscan Kale is one of their family favorites. It has dark green leaves with a crinkly texture, which is why it’s called Dinosaur Kale.
“Last year, I thinned out my strawberry bed, and it has really made a difference this season. I’m seeing much larger strawberries coming on already.” Other berries, such as blueberries and raspberries, are looking good early this spring, particularly a new variety she’s trying—root berries.
Her Chives are in full bloom with beautiful, purple, bulb-shaped, edible flowers. Celsea says they are very flavorful and likes to use them in salads and on the Hatchery’s avocado egg toastie sandwich, where she works.
She’s encouraged about her many fruit trees already showing early signs of fruit.
This is just a sampling of what’s happening in Celsea’s garden this month! Stay tuned for more updates and information about gardening from Celsea.
