A Good Shelling

We've had snow and snap peas for a bit. Yesterday we had our first taste of some shelling peas. For some reason we have always had a hard time growing these things. Usually a warm or cold blooded pest was to blame. This year things were a bit slow to mature because our first planting got mucked with by chipmunks and I am also suspicious of a bad batch of seeds. Oh well, that's the gardening experience I suppose. Did I mention that Meg is clutch with the Alfredo sauce? Throw in some of these peas and... Hot Damn!

Mr. Big Pea

He's still looking a bit thin, but he'll fatten up soon.

Diversity in salads

This year's first pea flower.

Bamboo Pea Trellis

This year we got a little fancy with our pea trellis. We built a bit bamboo frame over the pea bed and tied cross pieces above each row of peas.

Then, we hung strings—one per pea sprout—from the cross piece and tied them loosely around the base of each pea.


It was labor-intensive, but worth it. So far the peas aren't trying to strangle each other like they normally do, since they all seem content to hang out on their own string. In the past, our peas have gotten all tangled and clumped together and it's was difficult to find and pick all the ripe pods. This method has been keeping them much more organized.

More Photos Coming

Our polling peas were in need of a place to climb. This is our third year gardening and every year we change the design of our trellises. This year's model is a little labor intensive, but all of the major materials are natural. We should be done with the whole thing tomorrow, weather permitting, and will share more photos with a more detailed description. Until then, here's a sneak peek.

Shady Grove

Not too long ago we erected a sunshade to protect the bed of greens and peas. When the rest of the garden fills in we won't have a need for the contraption, but for now the high-noon sun is just a bit too much.

The set up really is as easy as it looks; we just tied a sheet to one end of the fence and ran a line from the corners of the opposite end of the sheet to the fence on the other side. The string running on the left side of the photo is attached to the fence with loops as opposed to tying it on. The loops allow us to slide the string on and off the fence posts so we can pull the shade back on cloudy days.

What's Eating You?

One of the many things we've learned since we started gardening is that with the great joys there are also extreme aggravations. This property can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Our recent bit of fury comes from a mysterious pest that is eating the pea sprouts.

I think we can rule out groundhogs, deer, and rabbits. There is just too much fence for that to be a possibility. Meg thought perhaps that is was the work of squirrels, but what ever it is, it left the seed. Actually there doesn't seem to be any mammal amounts of digging at all. I did see an ant colony, but it was in another bed all together. I know they're industrious, but would they really travel that far for a little green grub?

If you can't tell, we are at a loss with this one. Now I know the photo of the eaten sprout isn't the best, but it was the best I could do. If any of you have a theory about what it might be, please send a remedy our way.

Pea sprouts! ...But not where we expected them.

At the top of our stairs is a gigantic bamboo plant that I've had for about four years. It's in a nice, big pot and in the morning I'll sometimes dump coffee grounds or eggshells or other compost-y stuff in the dirt. Last month, when I shelled the peas we'd been drying since the fall, I threw all the stems and leaves and empty pea pods in the bamboo pot.

As I was coming upstairs today, I saw this:


I guess I missed some peas.

All we are saying is give peas a chance.

The rain thwarted our pea planting plans so we stayed inside to read, get some work done, and listen to NPR. Given all the grim reports on the fifth anniversary of the war, that made for a fairly gloomy day.

The forecast is looking better for tomorrow, though, and it will be the first day of Spring, so perhaps we'll get to the peas then.