OK fellow gardeners it’s almost time to start planting your vegetable garden. So put away that over used snow shovel and get out your garden spade.
Peas are a garden favorite. There's nothing quite so rewarding as the taste of fresh sweet peas in the spring and early summer. Ideas and recipes abound with both color and beauty.
No matter where you live, English Peas should be planted as soon as the garden can be worked. In the North that means early spring, because peas can survive the occasional late frost.
Prepare your soil by turning it to a depth of 8 inches. By turning it over and breaking up the soil there will be less weeds later and let’s face it, by late summer I for one, am completely over weeding. Picking a sunny spot in your vegetable garden will help the seeds germinate early and since they don’t mind a chilly start you can get them in the ground as soon as the end of March.
If peas are planted in the shade, they will still grow, however, the sugar content will be low, and the peas will taste as if they have been hanging around for a while rather than super fresh and sweet. Some gardeners advise a 24 hour soaking period before planting the seeds. This will speed up the germination process and encourage sprouts to appear within a few days to a week. I have also heard that soaking them in Vitamin C increases their propagation. Plant the seeds 2 inches deep and a few inches apart in wide trenches.
Martha Stewart uses Grey Birch branches as a trellis for her English peas, beans and cucumbers as you can see from the picture I took at her garden in New York last spring. This makes a beautiful and interesting statement, however poles and plastic trellises are perfectly functional and a lot less work.
The two best known types of English peas are ‘dwarf’, which grow to a height of about 16 inches, and ‘telephone’ or tall varieties, which grow more than three feet. Seed catalogs and packets indicate the preferred time for planting different varieties. 'Green Arrow', 'Maestro', and 'Patriot' are three popular dwarf varieties. For tall types, try 'Alderman', 'Lincoln', and 'Wando'.
So pass the peas please!
xxx
Miranda
Snow peas are my favorite. The sooner you eat them after picking, the sweeter they are. Two growing seasons are allowed in the northeast U.S. I like to use a string trellis supported by 2 large 6' wooden "T's" at eather end of my raised garden. A heavy cord top and bottom is run between the "T's" on the outside with light sting verticle to send the peas upward. The inside of the "T" can be strung to grow cucumbers. In place of peas you could plant tomatoes or peppers.
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