"Pea" is for Planting

Monday while Herb worked on building some deep beds for berry bushes, I planted peas in this first bed.  Tuesday he shoveled wheelbarrow-fuls of "black gold" into the new beds while I put up a trellis for my peas.  Having done a bit of reading in garden books, I thought that 1 1/2" (as directed on the seed packet) was a bit too deep for my peas, and they can be closer than the packet said, too.  So I planted the extra seeds just 1" deep (hopefully) in between the first ones.  We'll see which ones come up first!

One of the books actually espoused an idea I had had--planting lettuce and spinach in the shade of the peas!  Maybe I'm turning into a gardener after all!  So I planted a row of each on the right side of the trellis.  In principle, the peas will come up, climb the trellis, and shade the greens a little later in the season, extending the season for the sun-shy greens.

One final idea I got from one book was to use "pea brush" (basically, branches) as a trellis for peas.  It sounds much more quaint and attractive than the metal post-and-wire trellis the book described, so maybe I'll try it in an extra space somewhere with some of the leftover peas.

I planted kale in the middle bed, the idea being that by the time I'm ready to plant squash and things there, the kale will be done for.  Apparently it's much more nutritious than broccoli.  Are you listening, George?

My last experiment was to transplant some strawberries into the holes of the concrete blocks that edge the far bed.  I find those gaping holes really unattractive, and since they tend to get soil (and then weeds) in them, I thought, "Why not put them to use?"  I bought six strawberry plants last spring, and they have spread like wildfire--but they're out in free-range chicken territory.  So as I dig up the strawberries, I'm going to try them in these mini-planters.  I'm also going to use some of the holes for planting marigolds, which attract beneficial insects, besides being ornamental and edible!