Pea Diaries Days 1 & 2

Yesterday in the mail I got my box of seeds. I ordered two half-pound bags of garden pea seeds (Alderman & Eclipse), two packs of bell peppers (rainbow mix), and a pack of tomato seeds (Giant Belgium). It's the first time in years I bought tomato and pepper seeds, I usually just buy the plants at the hardware store in June. If I am successful in growing these seedlings, and you live in my town, (I'm not mailing tomato babies), I'll give you a seedling or two. Just ask. (We'll see who is reading this!)

Today I left work early for an appointment and afterward had time to pick a place in the yard for my peas. This house was a model home for the builder when the neighborhood was being built 20 years ago. It's a corner lot and the house faces the intersection (to the southwest) so the front yard is bigger than the back and has better sun, and I usually plant my veggies in in the front. Today I picked a spot of unused soil next to the garage.

Last summer —or was it two summers ago?—I taught myself how to solder copper pipe together and made copper trellises. I made them so the four units are supposed to fit together in a large X formation, but I've never ended up using them like that. Anyway, I prepared the bed for the peas, soaked one pack in warm water (the other variety wants warmer soil so I'll wait a few weeks), sprinkled them over the soil (dirt), covered them up and stuck the trellises in the ground in the middle of the bed. I'm a fan of the "wide row" method of pea growing, instead of one seed two inches apart for the 16 million feet a pound of seed will create. The vines help support themselves this way, too so you don't need to provide a lot of growing support.