Although it is just the very start of spring at the moment,
it is the time to start thinking about the Christmas day meal, and to start
preparing the vegetable garden for the fresh vegetables that form such an
essential part of our season festivities.
As much as I love Brussels Sprouts, the iconic staple of the
English Christmas feast, I certainly would not want to swap a plate filled to
overflowing with potatoes dug freshly from the garden once the presents have
been opened, and recently harvested and podded peas.
We do not grow peas every year, as we are now constrained as
to the size of our garden, and wit only two of us at home we concentrate on
other vegetables, but if you have young children anywhere in the vicinity, you probably should grow some. They are a great vegetable for encouraging
young gardeners, as they are relatively easy, normally free from diseases, and
can be seen growing by impatient youngsters.
And of course, and freshly picked and podded peas taste so much better
than any bought produce.
In Wairarapa, early September is a good time to get sowing,
provided you have a nice well-drained site that is not too cold. Peas generally need to be grown through the
cooler months as they are very prone to mildew, and once the warmth and humidity
of summer kicks in, they will just get disease and fail to thrive. If your soil is not already supplied with
plenty of organic matter, it pays to add some well rotted compost to it,
As well as adding extra nutriment it will also improve the soil texture,
making it better for the plants to grow.
As you work the compost into the soil, make sure it is cultivated to
about a spade’s depth, and worked to a fine tilth.
Peas are probably best sown rather than planted out from
seed trays – they are certainly a lot cheaper if you sow directly as pea seed
is relatively inexpensive – but there are some pea varieties that will
transplant alright, and if you just want a few plants of sugar snap peas or
snow peas to grow in a container (they do very well grown that way) it might be
just as easy to get the head start that nursery-grown plants offer. The kids will love having pots of peas near
the house too.
If sowing, just make shallow rows in the well prepared soil,
the rows about 45 cm apart, and each seed about 5 cm away from its neighbours
in the row. If you want to give their
germination a kick start you can soak the seeds in warm-ish water for an hour
or two before sowing, but this is not essential.
Newly germinated seeds are like magnets for birds, and to a
lesser extent, slugs, so it pays to be careful and ready for the
onslaught. I like to use a roll of
chicken wire, rolled over to form a tunnel, as this can be easily removed as
the plants grow up and can be used as cover for other young seedlings. You can also just keep the chicken wire in
place and use it as a base for further support by adding bamboo stakes, or even
just garden twigs. Plenty of people just
start off with twigs, and that system works well too. Make sure to put some form of slug prevention
down as the plants are just popping through the soil.
It pays to make sure the peas are not too crowded in by
other tall growing vegetables as that will taken some of the sun off them and
will also prevent good air circulation which is the best defence against
mildew. You should have few other pests,
but aphids are sometimes a small concern – just use some organic neem oil and
them and that should keep them under control.
I am not sure that aphids do too much damage to the growing plants on
their own but they can help spread virus diseases and you do not really want
that in the garden.
No comments:
Post a Comment