Sweet Peas

I was thinking about the vines, peas and beans that grew on the neighbor's fence in the first neighborhood I have clear memories of. It was during that period of my life that I had my tonsils out, my leg dislocated, and I jumped off the neighbor's garage. I was a fearless child and full of rebellion. And yes, I was only 5 or 6 years old. I'd eat the peas off the vines, the raspberries too, while the rest of the kids played in the back yard. I got caught, which wasn't unusally for the pranks I pulled, but there the mother of my firends was leaning out the kitchen window telling me not to pick the peas. It happened with the raspberries and rhubbarb.
Grow your own, I say. Yum.

Flower

Spring Gardening

I suppose some gardeners have their plots ready to plant. They've added the chicken manure and had sifted out the roots clumps missed in the fall. I have done nothing--I admit it, I'm a bad gardener. I've been socializing, working on my writing and art, and learning to tango. But the truth is, when spring comes, the urge to get my hands in the soil becomes too strong to resist.

One of the first things to remember is, plant after the soil has warmed. If you plant too soon the seeds will rot in the cold, damp soil. You can plant indoors or in your cold frame. This will satisfy the early bird gardener. I've always found it interesting that the longer I wait, the faster the seeds sprout and the more quickly they grow.

Two early plants you might want to experiment with are peas and potatoes. Peas will need the soil to be warmed a bit too, as they also can rot. If you have trouble with birds nipping off the sprouts, cover your row with garden cloth, or you can cover the plants with upturned recycled plastic containers. I do this with zucchini so the plants aren't mowed down by slugs. The clear plastic makes like a little greenhouse for the plant to get off to a more flourishing start, too.

Okay, if you want to get out there--do. Have fun.

Ciao! Flower

Snow Pea Plant

If you like to eat peas, plant a mess of them in the early spring. I have a special planting method that works well. Dig a trench one inch deep and as long as your garden row and about 8 inches wide. Now broadcast plant a mess of peas, I mean pretty much cover the floor of the trench with pea seed. Now cover it and tamp it down.

Along this row insert the stakes you will string your climbing wire or string along. Sometimes I use sticks from the brush trimming in the yard. Just stick them along the row every six inches or so. The peas will grow up these sticks.

When the peas come up, there will be a lot of them, which you want. You can also stretch mess along the row. The peas can grow tall if supported correctly.

Peas and new potatoes, ahhhh, my favorite. Try it, you'll like the results. Lots of peas in the early spring. Plant again in late summer. I like the sugar peas, snow peas and little marvel.

Flower

Potatoes

I love to dig potatoes in the fall, turning over the soil on a sunny day, gleaning from the rich darkness the white or red jewels. Oh, so poetic. But it is like finding treasure, those yellow fin and reds and you know of course how to find the new potatoes to cook with your peas in the spring? You find the flowering plants and reach carefully beneath, sort of like reaching beneath a hen for a newly laid egg. I've done that, the egg is warm, the hen cackles a bit--and the potato plant has all these tiny potatoes growing along the roots, they can be snapped off and the plant will continue to grow. New potatoes are the size of a plum and when cooked with new peas, ah, what a treat. I used to make a sauce of cornstarch and water and salt and blend it in with the cooking water--always I use a minimal amount as to not waste vitamins--and when creamy, salt and pepper to taste. I could eat that now, new potatoes and peas for breakfast, add an egg, viola, I'm in Heaven.

Soon,

Flower