Spring Garden Prep: Time to Plant Peas!

Spring may be right around the corner, but it's still March and the threat of frost or even a snow storm is still very real. One of the joys of the northeast is that it can be 65 and sunny one day and snowing the next. Nevertheless, it's been fairly warm for the past few weeks and so I decided to roll the dice and plant some spring crops. I haven't touched the garden since last summer, so leaves and other detritus from last season are still all over the place.
In the fall, I always let my tomatoes continue growing until they're killed by frost. Then I take all the green tomatoes and pickle them. Pickled green tomatoes are delicious! Try making them yourself or pick up some at your local farmers market. But this also means more cleanup in the spring.
Next I raked out the garden beds...
...and off to the compost pile.
Starting to look a little more tidy.
I'm only going to prepare the beds that I intend to plant. I'll prepare the others in a few weeks when I plant the vegetables that prefer warmer temperatures.
To prepare the beds, I pulled out my compost bins from winter storage. Folks who read this blog regularly know that I save all my food scraps for the compost bin. I even toss in some paper and cardboard. When this stuff breaks down, it makes the best compost! I consolidated the stuff that hasn't biodegraded yet and set aside the compost for the garden.

Check out this compost! Gardeners call this black gold because of the nutrients it adds to the soil. This is truly nature's fertilizer. Unfortunately I didn't see any of my red wiggler worms. These little guys eat the food scraps and significantly speed up the biodegredation process. My worms survived last winter but apparently didn't take to the cold temperatures this winter. I have some friends who have worms bins, so I'll have to borrow some of their worms to get my colony going again.
I spread the compost around the prepared beds and then worked it into the soil. When I moved into my place, the soil was terrible. I've spent years improving soil fertility with compost and other natural additions such as manure. The results are evident in the plants and vegetables. The first year, almost nothing would grow. But each year thereafter the plants look better, fuller and producer more and bigger fruit.
When starting a garden, it's important to do a little research on what type of conditions and climate your plants prefer. Some plants require full sun while some find partial sun acceptable. Some like it chilly and some only grow when it's very warm. Some only grow in the south while others only grow in the north. This regional variety is what makes local food so special. You're growing (or buying) something intimately connected to your local environment.

Very few plants love cool weather. Peas however demand it. Snow peas planted in July will quickly die in the afternoon sun. But they're one of the only vegetables that you can plant right after the danger of frost is over but when the temperatures are still cool. Plus peas improve nitrogen levels in the soil, which will benefit the tomatoes I'll plant later in the season.
Now it's time to sow the seeds. The directions say to sow 2" apart in rows 6" apart, with 24" between rows. The seeds should be about 2" down into the soil. Try and resist the urge to plant too close together. I constantly need to struggle against this urge because I have such a small garden and I want to maximize the yield. But if you plant too close together the plants will be all over each other and you'll actually have a lower yield. It's better to have fewer healthy plants than lots of unhealthy plants. Fortunately you can always cull seedlings so that you have a healthy density. But killing living plants is even harder than resisting the urge to plant them in the first place.
The snow peas and the sugar snap peas should germinate in 7-14 days. The sugar snap can be harvested in 70 days but the snow peas can be harvested in 58 days. That's the the end of May! I can hardly wait!

I'm so excited that garden season is here again. Check back as I plant more vegetables and do more work around the garden. Or even better, start your own garden! Even if you live in an apartment, you can grow fresh herbs on a windowsill!