Yes Peas!

 

Tall Telephone Peas were planted back in September and are now finally starting to fatten up.  That’s five months.  I thought I would have peas around Christmastime.  Sheesh! 

The seeds came from Terroir Seeds with this description:

68-78 Days.  Swiss heirloom dating to 1878.  Many vines and a profusion of easy-to-pick pods with 8-9 tasty peas each.  Long season.  Pisum stavum 

The packet instructions give these directions:

As soon as soil can be worked in spring, sow peas in full sun, 2” deep and 6” apart within the rows and space the rows 2’ apart.  Germination takes 7-10 days.  Sow successively every two weeks until temperatures remain above 78 °F, and again in mid to late summer for a fall crop.  Vining types need trellises or supports.

I suppose I should have planted them in August rather than September.  Planting a couple of more rows to try to get some spring peas is probably a good idea since I come out and eat these off the vine at lunchtime. Preserving any is doubtful.  At $2.95 for 100 seeds, it’s a pretty economical way to garden. These plants are over 6’ tall.  Make sure to provide tall enough support.

Enjoy some pea facts and pea recipes at peas.org.

Sunflower – Good Mornin’

Alright.  Sunflowers will be featured in the garden this summer.  I know they’re easy to grow and will attract pollinators.  If the birds get too pesky, out come the sunflowers.  The plan is to plant them along the borders of the beds planted with corn.  Having a dwarf variety would be best as I could keep things under control a bit better.  One year I grew a giant variety – Black Russian I think.  They grew so vigorously and so tall that when the time came to clear the patch, my farm hand (about 10 years old at the time) cried, “Foul!”

My knowledge of sunflowers is very, very limited.  So limited that I thought I had ordered a dwarf variety from Terrior Seeds but closer examination of my order revealed that I came up short. 

I like the look of Teddy Bear with its ruffled petals; but it’s too tall (6’).  Dwarf Sunspot is certainly short enough reaching only 2’; but it’s kinda plain looking.  But hold on.  Over at Baker Creek, the Teddy Bear variety only grows 18” – 24”.  That seems about right for my needs.  These will get ordered for the summer garden along with anything else that I thought I ordered.

 

To everyone in the San Joaquin Valley:  How ‘bout this fog?!  Dang, I love it.  There used to be much more of it when I was a kid delighting in school delays of 2 hours.  If it gets you down, try ordering some sunflower seeds for your summer garden.  Summer will be here faster than I like.