Garden 2024

[blissful]

I have a question for anyone that grows peas, not for the shells, for the actual peas.
I've only grown them a few times and never had a great harvest of shells or peas.
What kind of peas will give a good harvest? I'll need about 20 lbs of peas to freeze or can. I use them every time I make veggie brown basmati rice and the packages are getting smaller and the price keeps going up. It'll be something new for us to put some effort into this summer.

 

[larry_stewart]

Last year I grew 'Easy Peasy" variety. I think I got them from Burpee ( I'll have to check). They did pretty well ( for me). Not sure they could produce the amounts you're looking for .

- Planted them directly in the ground March 21
- Sprouted April 5th
- April 16th about 3 -4 inches
- April 24th 6 - 8 inches
- Started flowering May15th
- Harvested from June 10th - June 24th.

2 Rows, about 8 feet each, harvested about 10 quarts of peas ( still in their pods). Thats not counting all the ones snacked on. Fresh peas right out of the pod is one of my favorite snacks.

 

[taxlady]

Fresh peas right out of the pod is one of my favorite snacks.

You reminded me of when I lived in Copenhagen. Every summer, during pea season, there would be vendors on some streets, selling small paper bags of peas in the shell. They were sold as a street snack. Loads of people are very fond of fresh peas straight out of the pod, including me.

 

[larry_stewart]

When my kids lived at home, when I came homeroom grocery shopping, Id have a bag of peas for each one, making sure to count them so one didn't get more than the other one

 

[pepperhead212]

I never grow peas, except for sugar snap or snow peas. I just have to grow way too many, to be worth it. And I have a problem growing peas in spring - I get heat spells early, and causes them to start producing peas while the pods are small.

 

[larry_stewart]

The last 2 years have been relatively consistent with the peas, but it's usually hit or miss. They usually take longer to produce than I expect ( taking up valuable space). And as much as they say they are cool weather crops, in my experience, they dont really kick in until it starts warm up. She they can tolerate the cold, but thrive as it gets warmer. I found this out the hard way, when I planted them thinking they would be all done by the time the next crop was supposed to be planted. now I kinda squeeze them into areas that wont affect other things I need to get in. I lost never use them for cooking, just snacking on.

 

[blissful]

Last year I grew 'Easy Peasy" variety. I think I got them from Burpee ( I'll have to check). They did pretty well ( for me). Not sure they could produce the amounts you're looking for .

- Planted them directly in the ground March 21
- Sprouted April 5th
- April 16th about 3 -4 inches
- April 24th 6 - 8 inches
- Started flowering May15th
- Harvested from June 10th - June 24th.

2 Rows, about 8 feet each, harvested about 10 quarts of peas ( still in their pods). Thats not counting all the ones snacked on. Fresh peas right out of the pod is one of my favorite snacks.

I saw that Walmart has the Burpee Organics Easy Peasy Peas! We're about 43 deg latitude and you are 40 deg latitude. I've never planted anything as early as march. Your average temperature rarely falls below 33 deg F at that time. Maybe we'll plant a week later-I guess? I'll put it on my calendar and see how it goes!

 

[larry_stewart]

I've planted other varieties. Could have been a fluke, but these were decent 2 years in a row so I either have had a string of good luck, or I actually know what Im doing

 

[larry_stewart]

Still focussing on the stuff inside. My hydro/aquaponic system is doing well. Primarily parsley, but when shopping a few weeks ago, I bought a few of those fresh herb packets . I didnt use everything, a they looked so fresh and healthy, that I stripped the lower parts of the stems , and placed them in some of the grow cups. Now I have a bunch of sage, mint and rosemary that appear to be healthy and thriving. Hopefully they remain healthy so I can move them outside in a few months.

 

[dragnlaw]

Larry, what are the measurements of that hydroponic set-up.
I'm looking around for some space.

Edit: those look like 2 or 3" grow pots?

 

[pepperhead212]

Larry, Watch closely for aphids on those sage and mint plants - spearmint and sage are two things that got what I termed "spontaneous aphids", where they are on nothing else, and appear just on those plants, about 2 weeks after plants are there, and disappear as soon as I removed them. And if I killed them with pyrethrin, they would show up again, about 2 weeks later! These two, rao ram, chervil (but not parsley), and even scallions, which never get anything on them outside! No idea why.

 

[larry_stewart]

Larry, what are the measurements of that hydroponic set-up.
I'm looking around for some space.

Edit: those look like 2 or 3" grow pots?

Pots are 3" pots.
System fits over a standart 20 gallon fish tank.
Mine came with s raisable light that sits over a unit that holds 13 of those 3 inch cups.
Also came with a pump.
the only extra thing I needed was the tank itself
The system got is actually 'aquaponic' which is a hydroponic that sits over a fish tank causing a symbiotic relationship ( Fish fertilize the plants, plants filter the water).
I get a few feeder goldfish ( like 15 cents each). I've also used it strictly as hydroponic with no fish. One year was putting the bottoms of scallions in there to root and grow. They did fine, but the fish died off. Not sure if it was their time to go, or if the onion/ scallion roots were too pungent for them, and contaminated the water. It happened more than once, so it seemed to be more than just a coincidence, so now I dont grow scallions in there any more. I primarily grow parsley. Ive done lettuce and other leafy greens in the past, which work well, but my system is not that big, so you wait a few months to get them large enough to harvest, then use it all up in 2 or 3 nights of salads. I also used to do basil. There's nothing like smelling fresh basil in the middle of the winter. But then I realized I use base much more frequently in the summer than the winter ( winter tomatoes are usually crap), so I stopped the basil. The parsley I use a lot , but not enough to wipe out what I got all at once. And if picked carefully and properly, it continues to grow back ( and the fish are still alive )

Larry, Watch closely for aphids on those sage and mint plants - spearmint and sage are two things that got what I termed "spontaneous aphids", where they are on nothing else, and appear just on those plants, about 2 weeks after plants are there, and disappear as soon as I removed them. And if I killed them with pyrethrin, they would show up again, about 2 weeks later! These two, rao ram, chervil (but not parsley), and even scallions, which never get anything on them outside! No idea why.

Thanks for the tip. At this point, no signs of aphids , but to be honest, I haven't been watching for them. I did a quick inspection earlier and nothing I can see. I do have some fungus gnats ( I have other plants in the room plus my mushroom tent. very minimal though. There have been years where they were all over the place. This year Much more manageable. I need a pet frog or Venus fly trap in that room

 

[dragnlaw]

A very pretty blue frog would look nice in there amongst the greenery, Larry. Saw one for sale a little bit ago. The owner died.

 

[pepperhead212]

For fungus gnats, I use those mosquito dunks, broken up into bits and pieces. It doesn't take much - check out the size of an outdoor pond just one controls mosquitoes in. The Bt israelensis kills the fungus gnat larvae, too. I use a liquid version of this for my potted plants, when I bring those inside.

 

[blissful]

I use the BT on all the leafy things in my gardens, especially the lettuces and greens, including parsley. Prior to that we had worms/caterpillars/moths, and it made washing them with those a pain and gross. It's safe for bees and butterflies.

 

[larry_stewart]

I started using BT on my cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower and it has been a game changer ( as long as I stay up with it). Now I get those crops to full size , and minimal damage predictably

 

[larry_stewart]

The past year or two I've been putting more effort into my figs. I've had fig trees for a long time, with minimal to no production. I joined a local group online and learned more about varieties that do well in my area of the country, along with how to wrap, over winter and root cuttings. I've built up a decent collection of fig trees. Today I made a bunch of cuttings. Some from my trees ( more for practice than anything else), and a few from local friends who know nothing about figs, but just happen to have trees on their yards that they pay no attention to, dont wrap for the winter, ad produce hundreds of figs a year. I figure I want some trees from those gene pools. Anyway, here is a pic pf the cuttings I started today. last year I was about 80% successful in producing viable cuttings. Hoping for similar success this year. Im hoping for a bountiful harvest this year .

 

[blissful]

@larry_stewart Figs! Cool.

The cicadas will be showing up this year in a big way in many parts of the US. They don't bother gardens but they do bother young fruit trees, especially 4 years and younger.
We have young cherry trees, we might wrap to protect them. We're going to be watching our fruit trees this summer and deal with the cicadas if we must.

I was weeding out a flower circle we have out back last summer, and I came across this alien life form, it was shiny and big and scary buggish looking thing. It was the outer shell of a cicada that must have come off the cicada. He wasn't supposed to show up until 2024. I bet he was unexpectedly lonely for his cicada friends.

 

[larry_stewart]

@larry_stewart Figs! Cool.

The cicadas will be showing up this year in a big way in many parts of the US. They don't bother gardens but they do bother young fruit trees, especially 4 years and younger.
We have young cherry trees, we might wrap to protect them. We're going to be watching our fruit trees this summer and deal with the cicadas if we must.

I was weeding out a flower circle we have out back last summer, and I came across this alien life form, it was shiny and big and scary buggish looking thing. It was the outer shell of a cicada that must have come off the cicada. He wasn't supposed to show up until 2024. I bet he was unexpectedly lonely for his cicada friends.

We visited my daughter in Maryland 2 years ago during the peak of a Cicada infestation/ swarm. I've heard of I tall my life, but never witnessed any more than a few in the trees and an occasional dead one in the grass. This time, in Maryland, you couldn't even walk anywhere without stepping on them or one just flying into you. All the holes in the ground by the trees and eco skeletons attached two the trunks of the trees. They were so loud, it was difficult to hear each other. Its was both fascinating and disgusting.

 

[blissful]

From reading, they say that the cicadas will cut the tips of fruit tree branches and lay eggs there. Then in a few weeks they fall to the ground and dig into the soil to hibernate/grow. So if that happens, they say to prune those tips before the branch tips fall. Remove them from the area because over the course of a fruit tree's lifetime, the larvae sucks nutrients from the roots. It may take away resources from the trees.

We traveled to a small town in south dakota in the late 80's. The cicadas were so loud just buzzing in the trees, it was deafening. We've never had a big infestation of cicadas here in SE Wisconsin. I'm hoping it won't be too bad here.