Give Peas a Chance

Peas are my favorite vegetable to plant! They're so easy, they come up quick and they're delicious (the pretty flowers are a bonus too).
This will be the second year we're planting peas . . . we had so much success with last years crop I planted 3 times the amount this year! I can't help but have delusions about sitting on the front porch in rocking chairs shelling peas to freeze. In reality there are none left to freeze because we eat them all!
Check out what popped up in our vegetable beds over the weekend: 

Here's my Pea Planting Guide:

• Soak peas overnight before planting them, to ensure good germination. Not all peas need to be soaked, check the instructions on the back of your package.
• Plant your peas in the Spring while the soil is still cool. They can be planted up to one month before the last frost. 
• Plant seeds approx 2 inches apart, and 1 inch deep.
•  Peas don't do as well in really hot weather so planting early is the best way to do it. 
• All pea varieties need some type of trellis or other support. They'll climb on anything so honestly any type of support will work (branches, metal trellis, wood trellis, a slow moving neighborhood cat, pea vines will grab on to anything!!).
• Most importantly make sure to keep soil moist while seeds are germinating. If it didn't rain that day, you'll need to give them a watering.
• When you see the first flowers pop out, a sprinkling of Organic Mushroom Manure gives them all the nutrients they need to produce plump pea pods.

• When peas are ripe it's best to harvest them everyday, harvest them when the shells go waxy, but before they loose their color.

• To save seeds, let a few pods mature and dry right on the vine, when they turn brown shell the pods and store the seeds for next years planting. You can store them for at least 3 years! 

If you have soil, sun and water you can grow peas anywhere (my sister is growing hers in containers on her balcony).
I hope you'll give 'em a try . . . they're hands down the most rewarding crop to plant!

Check back later today for another post . . . Find out what almost made me break my green promise to my yard!