Sunday, May 11, 2008

Hope... The Farmer's Song


....diggin' in the dirt...
...on my knees...
...diggin' in the dirt...
...planting peas...
...diggin' in the dirt...



I planted some snow peas the other day... an heirloom variety... tall sugar..."Mammoth Melting"... they say they will have 3" pods... grow 5 feet tall... take 74 days... spaced the seeds about 1½" apart... I covered them with about an inch of soil when I was done...

With my small hatchet, I cut a couple poles from the brush pile lying in the firepit that were waiting for a rainy day to burn... might as well get some extra life out of those sticks first... the air was chilly... the wind was blowing... my fingers were very cold... but peas like cool weather...

I poked 2 deep holes in the ground... stuck the poles in... spread some netting between them and tied it tightly with some string...... hope it works...... hope the wind doesn't blow them down...

....Hope they grow.....

17 comments:

Gina said...

Best of luck Gwen, we have grown snow peas here for several years and always amazed at how high they do reach.. we usually plant seeds every 2 weeks to ensure a continual crop. So yummy in salads, stir-fries!

Gwen Buchanan said...

great Gina, so will they grow into the warmer months too? I have some more seeds.. I'll try planting that way too, Thanks

Sharon said...

There's not much that's more centering that sitting down in some dirt and doing a little digging.........okay so maybe I'm romanticizing it a little bit....probably just wish I could find some dirt to dig in..... still I bet your climate is perfect for growing peas.

Don't let that sweet puppy get in there or you'll be replanting them!!!!

Anonymous said...

Is there an expression for gardeners' good luck -- like break a leg in the theater?

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hey Sharon!
Oh that silly puppy has run around so much in my planting beds I really don't think I needed a tiller at all..I should have just penned her up in there and it would have been stirred up just fine... That dog has big feet!!!!

I think China is going to be benefiting from my seeds though!!


Hey mamashift,
well, I think it might go something like..."Grow! damn ya!! Grow!!!"

Ruth said...

Yum, snow peas grown in the soil right there. I can eat them raw like a snack.

Shelley said...

It looks like the beginnings of a wonderful garden. (And your "rows" look so precise - I'm jealous!)

Gwen Buchanan said...

Ruth and Shellmo... it is not a very wide patch but I rather intensely planted them about 4 " apart... hopefully I can train the outer rows up the same trellis ...

Anet said...

Yes Gwen, I was thinking of how neat your rows are. Very nice.
I am making Noah a Bean teepee with Scarlet Emperor beans. They have pretty red flowers. Noah and his buddies will have fun playing in it. It's just for fun! No eating the beans for this family. But we love snow peas!

sandy said...

Wow, you're a farmer too! My son wants to start a vegetable garden here but I'm afraid I'd be left tending it. Hope those peas grow good.

William Evertson said...

I think you will be overrun. Karen and I keep trying to grow sunflowers but somebody keeps eating the young sprouts. Our best success has been tomato's, and nothing beats a salad with homegrown ingredients. Good luck - lets get our hands dirty. It's art.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh Anet that will be his favourite place all summer ... lots of hummingbirds will be fluttering in and out too... I planted Scarlet runners last year and it was the first time I cooked any of the rough skinned beans.. they were beautiful and it didn't take very many since they were so big... but tender

oh sandy I am far from being a farmer... Wish I had the endurance to be one... I just love to have a few veggies for summer salads , grow a few potatoes and tomatoes,, maybe some basil and herbs... some flowers.......... I keep experimenting here in my sandy soil...

Bill, You must have a lovely heatsink for your tomatoes and tend them well... mine usually grow well during most of the summer but late in the year they need extra water or they will split...
Do you think you will try sunflowers again?... love the way they follow the sun...

you're right..."heres to dirty hands"

Don said...

Your snow peas are done with a nice flair! I am inspired once again. I like the image of you with a hatchet going after the brush pile.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Don you probably wouldn't have liked the look on my face when I was hacking away there..... Boy the pioneers had to work hard ... How did they ever survive!!

Lovethiscottage.blogspot.com said...

You've reminded me I need to pick up some snow pea seed when I go to town tomorrow. So crunchy and yummy!
For regular shelling peas I get the dwarf "Frosty" variety cos they dont need staking and are excellent freezers. The most useful thing I learned from my first motherinlaw eons ago was that peas like to be crowded and support each other that way. I was dubious when I first watched her make a flat bottomed trench, the width of the hoe, and then sprinkle handfuls of peas thru her fingers in the trench (about 4 inches wide) The peas maybe a half inch to an inch apart. Then she flipped the dirt over them from each side of the trench so they were buried an inch or two. I have followed her method the last 30 years and had a bumper crop every year. Maybe they dont mind being crowded because being a legume they get their nitrogen from the air, so its not like theyre competing for it in the soil...just a theory,
kathi

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hey great tip, Kathi... You're right.. mom is always saying peas don't mind being crowded...
You otta know, too cause You always have such a great garden!! I didn't need to space them out at all...

I haven't planted my regular peas yet so I'll pick up some "Frosty" and sprinkle them thicker... ... maybe they will crowd out the weeds too... thanks!!

laura said...

Neat rows in the soil with neatly spaced seeds: what a pleasing image!