Pass The Peas, Please!

 If you’ve grown peas before, you might already be familiar with the little green marvels. But if you’ve never grown peas and want to give them a shot, there’s a few things you should know.

•  You CAN grow peas in planters. So if your soil is questionable, or maybe even absolute crap, if you live in an apartment, or you rent and can’t get permission to have a garden, or you can’t bend over like you used to… don’t despair! When the peas get big, provide with some sort of support to climb on, even if it’s just twine or string strung between sticks. (Peas aren’t proud, they’re happy as long as they have something to climb on) 

• When the temperature goes up, provide them with shade. That might mean moving the pots they’re in or devising a support system you can drape darker old sheets over during the hottest part of the day. (Again, this doesn’t have to be store-bought or look like something from the pages of Martha Stewart magazine. Do what works for you without cutting into your budget) 

• Water them every day. Not only does this result in plumper peas, but the plants can withstand higher temperatures and pest invasions better. 

• If you have the room, for pots, planters or another row in the garden, plant more than one crop, but about a week after the first planting. This is called succession planting, and it ensures you’ll get more than one harvest. Depending on how many you’ve planted, you may or may not get very much, but every single fresh pea on your plate is better than canned ones from the grocery store. And speaking of harvest… 

Harvest in the coolest part of the day. Keep your peas in a baggie or a bowl in the fridge until dinner time. If you must have them cooked, only heat them until they’re warm. Don’t boil them to death! You’ll have boiled all the vitamins out of them, ruined their consistency. My favorite way to have peas is raw, but not everyone agrees with me.

 This is by no means, a complete list. Just a few tips I thought I’d share in the hopes of getting more folks growing a classic and much-loved vegetables.

Have you grown peas? Do you have any tips to share with us? Sound off in the comments section, we’d love to learn from you! (If you enjoyed this post and want to see more like it, enter your name in the box to the right and we’ll let you know via email when there’s a new post.)

Garden Lessons and Other Wisdom

With our garden now offering up a small harvest, I thought I'd take the opportunity to share a couple of thoughts with you. Kind of a 'lessons the garden taught me' post.

I learned that planning is important, which we all knew anyway, but I learned to take that one step further and have a back-up plan. In this case, in case of unpredicted early frost. You might remember that we lost nearly everything to a frost no one predicted back in the spring. We had to start over with a combination of purchased plants and  whatever we could start from seed. So the lesson there was always have a back up plan. 

Second, fertile soil is of the utmost importance. Without fertile soil you won't get good fruiting, or good leaf production. Without good leaves, the plant starves because photosynthesis is hampered. In our case, we amended the soil with composted sheep fertilizer, peat moss and black earth, but we were starting with poor soil and it all wasn't enough. Which leads me to my next lesson learned.

Compost is king. 
Compost is so full of nutrients it's silly. It's worth every minute learning how to make good compost. That means, no coffee filters (an ongoing struggle at our house), no animal by-products, turning, paying attention internal temperatures and so on. There are so many different ways of making your soil fertile, I won't get into it all here, but it all plays a huge part in the life of your soil. No life, no produce.

Another lesson I learned, be patient. 
Not everything can be accomplished in one year. We had a good harvest of peas, an impressive 4-5 pounds of tomatoes so far with a lot more ready soon, we harvested approximately 6 cucumbers, we have a couple of watermelons that are coming along nicely, a good batch of onions, and perhaps 5-10 pounds of potatoes. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it's a much better yield than we had last year. That doesn't include the tomatillos I hope will come through for me or the tomatoes yet to ripen. Last year, our beets did well, but not the tomatoes and we hadn't planted enough peas. Our zucchinis flowered their little heads off this year but produced nothing else, our basil and cilantro however, produced beyond expectation. The rhubarb everyone said I couldn't start from seed grew and thrived and became part of a bigger patch out back. So every year is a learning experience and we can't expect to be a success right away.

That hasn't kept me from being frustrated that I got 1 pepper out of ten plants. As the edited saying goes, stuff happens when you least expect it, in my case a sprained ankle. So allow for some set-backs and failures and focus on the good that came out of your garden this year.

How did your garden do this year? Let me know in the comments!

The Many Faces of "B"

When I first sat down to write this post, I had a hard time thinking of words relative to farming and agriculture and prepping that started with B. Clearly I just need more coffee, because once I put my mind to it, there were all kinds of ideas.
The obvious first choices are broccoli, beets and beans. Because my family enjoy both raw and cooked broccoli, I'll be planting some and we'll likely freeze it and eat it raw. Beets are enjoyed as well, though I imagine there will be fewer of these since it has fewer fans in our family. These will be easy to put up pickled. Beans are important to both homesteaders and preppers alike. Many people put up bags and bags of them in case they need to one day rely on their own food supplies instead of the grocery stores. Heirloom beans have as an interesting and varied a story as the history of North America. There are dozens of types, colors, shapes and flavors. I'll be growing green beans and yellow wax, and I'd like to grow butter beans and a new-to-me type called "Orca"
(That's them below)
I'm fascinated by the whole process of taking a seed that looks so interesting, planting it and watching it grow, and then discovering what the pod might look like!

Of course, along the way, there will also be bugs, both good and bad. I'll have to learn how to spot the good guys like Brown Lacewings, Ground Beetles and the bad such as the Mexican Bean Beetle, as well as learn how to take out the bad guys in a way that won't do harm to the ecosystem.
Let's not forget bees too. We'll be planting flowers and herbs throughout the yards (front and back) to encourage bees and butterflies to not only visit, but pollinate as well. It frightens me a little to think about the "dead hive syndrome" that so many bee-keepers are hit with. Whole hives suddenly dying off mysteriously, but there is a theory that chemicals insecticides are the killer. Just one more reason why Monsanto's greatest legacy is wrong for the environment and people.

One of our goals for next year is to plant a few more berry bushes. The fruit will help us produce reams of gleaming jars full of jams and jellies. Raspberries, strawberries, locally foraged blueberries, and high-bush cranberries. I always thought of grapes as berries when I was growing up, and those will be planted in a bright sunny spot as well.

One of my goals this fall is to prepare different vegetable beds throughout the yard. I've put a lot of thought into what size beds I'd like to plant. They'll be anywhere from twelve to fifteen feet long and four feet across. These dimensions should allow me to build enclosures to keep out excessive sun (for those cool weather crops like lettuce and peas), cold, and even the chickens on their free-range days. A bed that is only four feet across allows for much easier weeding from either side. In case you're wondering why I don't just plant traditionally, in rows, I plan on instituting a three year crop rotation plan. This will help cut down on soil diseases and pests, as well as allow for green manure plantings.

I suppose there are dozens of other "B" words that relate to life in the Urban Trench, but the goal here is to get you thinking.
What other "B" words can you think of that might relate?

A Pea Here, A Potato There

So now I approach the whole book of my plans differently ... "Wait, what book?" you ask. I have a very large binder that houses all my notes on everything I thought I might find useful in off-grid, green manure, power production, water storage, food production, pest control, specific plant type notes, seed saving...you get the idea.
So now I need to approach the big book of knowledge as not just a repository of knowledge, but as a tool within the plan. The plan is to feed us with as much homegrown, natural food as possible. Realistically, there will still be things we'll need to acquire from town, but it's my hope that the list of those things shrink as the land and I grow together.
Soil is the first priority, I think. Without good soil, nothing will grow to it's full potential.

“Be it deep or shallow, red or black, sand or clay, the soil is the link between the rock core of the earth and the living things on its surface. It is the foothold for the plants we grow. Therein lies the main reason for our interest in soils.” --- Roy W. Simonson, USDA Yearbook of Agriculture, 1957

I will need to decide where the raised beds are going, replace edge boards to the old raised beds that are sagging, and compost to those as well. I'll also need to decide where new raised beds are going, lay the boards for those, dig a little to improve drainage and plant clover as a green manure. These will be the pea patches. It's my hope that with rotational green manure crops, I can improve the soil enough that I can get a reasonably good crop next spring.

Despite our limited number of days we will have remaining to us once we move, we'll still be growing a variety of things, most of which will be started and planted by then. Many are, indeed, started even as I type. No, not by me. By the Mom-Gardener. We'll already have under way pumpkins, squash, lettuce, tomatoes, beets, carrots and dill. Not much at a cursory glance, that's true. But we'll be growing what we can between the end of July and that dreaded first frost. But no matter how much it turns out to be, it will be more than she could have last year, and more than I have been able to grow in 12 years. We will be thankful for each and every morsel.

I have to give a shout out to an unlikely gardeners-left-hand, my Dad. I was unexpectedly thrilled to learn he got approximately five gallons of compost the other day. Way to go, Dad! (insert high five here) I was so encouraged by the news, I grinned like a dork for an hour.

There will need to be the right place found for a patch of oats that I'd like to grow next year. We're a big oatmeal family, all of us, and I'd like to be able to augment our store bought oats as much as I can. The only way I see the quality of our food improving is by eating more of our own, and realistically it's going to be a slow conversion. (For the picky eater in the family, that might be a good thing) The same goes for potatoes and corn. The "feeding" requirements for each will be a little different, but I'm already planning a three year crop rotation.

Next time, I'll talk more about crop rotation and why monoculture farming may have contributed to the big dust bowl of history.

Not Quite Wasted Week

Every time I think I have an awesome post for you, something gets in the way. So, instead of going to bed, I'm going to post!
First off: an Independence Days check in.

Plant Something: I planted two sunflower seeds indoors! I'll take anything that grows green and happy right now! Although it looks like I might lose the peas to damp-off disease yet again, damnit. They grow so well, so vigorously, get lots of light and then BAM! They wilt and die.
Harvest  something: Nope. It's too early here, and I planted no sprouts this week.
Preserve something: Nope.
Waste not: I added some  vegetable peelings to the compost bucket, kicked it around the "yard" a bit and flipped it. Also found a great source of leaf mold right under my feet! Almost. I'll add a couple of shovelfuls of it next week.
Want not: Hmm, upon reflection, we added nothing to the pantry. We'll have to fix that next week! I did pick up a couple of very short LED keychain flashlights tonight. The thinking there was that if we get caught out somewhere in an abrupt power failure, we'll have emergency light.  When we go out, we always have our keys, so we'll always have VERY bright light! Does this count as a "want not" item? We'll never be wanting for light...
Eat the food: Obviously we've been eating. No new recipes though. I didn't bake 4 dozen cookies or dehydrate anything. Nothing new to report here either. Wow.
Skill up; Finally! Something to share! We've been submersing ourselves in almost everything chickens, except the fowlpoo. The day is coming...oops, can't let that cat...err, bird out of the bag just yet...
Okay, maybe I can.

On Thursday, I posted very briefly that we were going to the TSC Store. I had hoped for video. Well, who knew the store would be busy!? I got some video before the iPod ran out of room, but I swear there was a district manager and thirty employees in there, and they all started looking at me a little strangely when I started filming. Anyway, the video isn't worth wasting your day over. Suffice it to say that the store was impressive! They had clothes, horse halters, english style saddles, chicken waterers and feeders, heat lamp bulbs, basic animal care supplies, rabbit feed and pens, fencing, chicken feed, hoof trimmers, overalls, boots, first aid kits for humans, cables, books, garden knick-knacks, hoses, electrified fencing equipment, dog food and supplies, shovels and rakes of every description, truck maintenance supplies, small tractors, model tractors, remote control tractors, and... and...I can't list it all, I didn't even see half the store! We'll have to take another trip to see all that we missed the first time. If you are living out in the sticks, or want to move there, if you own livestock, or want to, or you are lucky enough to have a mini-farm, if you have the opportunity to visit a TSC Store.. do it. You won't be disappointed.

What prompted all this? We've been given the go-ahead to acquire and raise chickens once we move! So now we're full-on into the research and development stage. We're learning all we can from a variety of sources, planning to build a coop and narrowing which varieties of birds will do best for our purposes and winter conditions. So far, we're having a blast! Because the hatchery that we're going to be getting our fuzzballs from does not carry Buff Orpingtons, we're likely to be getting Barred Plymouth Rocks, Red Sex Links, Black Sex Links and Rhode Island Reds. (Maybe next year, Jacqueline!)
Now you know why the brief post on Alektorophobia.
No, no one here has it.

Are you participating in the Independence Days Challenge? If you are, how did you do this week?
For those who are not, what did you learn this week?

Independence Days Check In

So, for those of you who are following along with the Independence Days challenge, how did you do?
This week, I'm pleased to report that I did the following:
Plant Something: I sprouted alfalfa! Yay! Two new peas poked their greenness above the soil, and I sprouted three more. These last three have yet to come up, but I know they're in their. I sprouted four lettuce seeds, and they've stayed green and upright.

Harvest Something: Not yet.
Preserve Something: Not yet.

Waste Not: I redirected some banana peels and apple cores to the compost barrel, rolled it around the patio a bit, flipped it a few times for good measure and opened the lid to give it a sniff. It doesn't smell funky, or earthy for that matter, but it has two things working against it. The air holes are not big enough and it's been outside all winter.

Want Not: We've added a couple tins of coffee and a big box of tea to our pantry. A couple more cans of coffee are being picked up this morning. Any sale on coffee that allows one to save $10 is a good thing!

Eat The Food: We have a few apples that are in need of being muffins, so I think this afternoon I'll be making banana bread and apple muffins.

Build Community Food Systems: Right now, I just want to have enough for us. Anything else is overwhelming.

Skill Up: Added four new quilting books to our personal library this past week. These are instructional pattern books, not coffee table books. These will come in handy when I have the room to start making quilts.
Edit notes: I forgot, I did add to our community food system! We tried goat's milk this week and it was a hit! I not only enjoyed it, I had no nasty after effects like I have with cow's milk. Could this be a solution to lactose intolerance or merely a reprieve?

A much more productive week than last, I think. How did your week go?