Mind Your Peas & Carrots
This time of year finds gardeners getting a little antsy. We know it’s too early to plant seeds outside, but we are itching to get in the dirt. This is when you should get a packet or two of peas and get busy. Peas don’t care if it gets cold, or snowy. When you see them peeking up through the ground it makes you so very happy, knowing that soon you will be eating them right off the vine. Their perfect sweetness kicks all other peas to the curb.
And they do more than make your mouth happy. Peas are nitrogen fixers for the soil, and as early spring bloomers they help the pollinators. They are an all-around garden good guy.
Just across town from our offices here at Lake Valley Seed, my grandpa had a huge garden. He always said retirement was the worst thing to ever happen to him, and he threw himself into growing food. It helped him have a sense of purpose.
Sowing Tradition
He had grown up farming on the eastern plains in Colorado; growing food was as natural to him as breathing. He knew so much, but in an effortless way, as if he had absorbed the knowledge instead of intentionally learning it. Through the years grandkids and great-grandkids followed him through the garden collecting snacks in small buckets and stuffing handfuls of berries in their mouths. When we got old enough to be interested we asked questions about how to garden. And a new generation of gardeners was sprouted.
It was easy to disappear into his garden, as the season grew so did the foliage. But you could always find him by the humming. He hummed while planting, while irrigating, while harvesting. Happy as a humming bee when he was working in the dirt.
He always said you should get your peas in the ground by St Patrick’s Day, having filled out his order forms in the deep of winter. Peas were the gateway—leading to bushels and bushels of food which he brought in for my grandma to can and freeze or give to family, friends and neighbors.
His pea of choice was Progress No. 9. Some of his other favorite seeds to plant were Danvers half long carrots, and blue lake beans. Grandpa liked his tomatoes red and reliable—Early Girl and Better Boy. He was also unable to harvest a turnip that was smaller than a small child’s head.
Growing A New Seed, Rooted in Tradition
He stuck with the tried-and-true varieties, reaching for what he knew grew well. I took the foundational knowledge he had to give (always casually and like it was no big deal to grow things) and have branched out to try crazy heirloom varieties and plants that are suited for other climates. But the seeds of growing things were planted deep, and I’m addicted to the thrill of watching a tiny seed turn into something amazing.
So, as we turned the page of the calendar to March, I ask you, do you have your peas ready to plant yet? St Patrick’s Day is for more than green beer and leprechauns—it’s time to embrace the green of spring and plant those peas! ♪♫ Hmmmmm hmhmmm. ♫♪
