Peas and onions
I planted my Peas on presidents day. I also got a flat of leeks and onions started in the laundry room. I planted 3 kinds of peas – well 2 kinds and some beans: Fava beans, petite pois, and sugar snap. I planted all of these things in my upper garden, even though I was planning on keeping my gardening efforts contained to the lower garden this year due to an impending remodel project. I justify it because the upper garden is really nutrient poor and needs some major help. All these peas fix nitrogen and break up the soil, so it’s good for it.
So here’s a pea description for those of you who don’t know any thing about peas other than they come in the freezer section in a bag labelled “green”.
Fava beans are big starchy things – almost like a lima bean or a butter bean. They grow in 6-8 inch pods, and like cooler temps. Most people plant them in the fall – or very early spring. I tried planting them in the fall last year and they all died over the winter, so I’ve decided early spring it is. You can eat them fresh, or if you let them dry you can grind them up and make falafal or yummy bean dip or what have you.
Petite Pois are itty bitty french peas. I’ve never grown them before, but the seeds were adorable. You have to shell them. I think the French really know their veggies, so I can’t wait to try them.
Sugar snap peas are great for lazy people who don’t want to shell peas. You can eat the pod as well as the peas. They are super sweet. Unfortunately, they didn’t freeze well for me – maybe I’m just incompetent.
I always imagine that there’s this animal communication network out there, where word of new sources of food would travel fast. Or that they are some how all communicating, Borg-like, so that when one animal discovers something tasty, or scary, or whatever it is that occupies animal thoughts, they all get the message. For example, I’m pretty sure that CoyoteNET has gotten the message about the all you can eat turkey buffet at our house. Similarly DeerNET knows about the yummy apples that are always on the ground around various trees in the fall, and of the wonders of the upper garden after I let the fence fall down. They still are knawing on the stumps of the kale and collards that they ate up over the winter. My guess is that the message went out on the NET this weekend that I planted something, and I think they are probably checking every day to see if any sprouts have emerged. So, I guess this weekend I better get that fence picked up before the shoppers arrive.