The Trusty Gardener-Planting Peas and Onions

These Veggies Can Tolerate Cold

The weather seems to have turned the corner from the previous 2 weeks of rain. Things are drying out and the temperatures are warming up. Perfect conditions for gardening. However, one must be careful in May since things can change quickly. For now, I am sticking with cold-hardy vegetables, thus I planted peas and onions.

Peas

This year I am trying Melting Sugar Snow Peas from Ferry-Morse. This is a new variety for me so it should be interesting. They mature in 72 days so I should have peas in July. Seems a little late for peas so we shall see. Normally I am able to plant them in later April but the conditions were too wet and cold. Interestingly, the packet does not say how tall the vines get, however they do suggest a trellis. I did plant using a fence that is about 30 inches tall. I may have to raise the fence depending on how tall they get.

Snow peas are delicious and are excellent in salads and stir fry.

Mulching Film

Last year I used planting paper, which worked fairly well. It does take time to put it down and cut openings for plants, etc. This year I found a mulching film at a local gardening store that I thought was paper, turns out it is plastic. I decided to keep it and give it a try. After all, it gives me something to try and evaluate. It is not bio-degradable so I will have to dispose of it in the Fall.

Black plastic is a popular way to mulch in gardens that is very effective in controlling weeds. It does also warm the soil. However, water can not pass through which can be a big disadvantage. This plastic film I bought is also black (couldn’t see color through the wrapper), however, it is very thin and has perforations to allow water and air to pass through. It is meant for one season only. This will be another gardening experiment for me.

Mulching film will not work in all parts of the garden such as for planting potatoes, since they need to be hilled, etc. I will use grass clippings or straw to mulch the potatoes. I will use the plastics where I can to suppress weeds and also to warm the soil.

Onions

I recently found some nice onion sets at a local farm store that I couldn’t resist. Honestly, they were the largest onion sets I ever have seen. I was able to buy yellow and sweet onion sets. I also have Sweet Spanish plants that I started from seed that I will use. In addition, I planted some Red Torpedo onion seeds that didn’t germinate well in 2 tries. I’m not sure if the sweet sets I bought are Sweet Spanish. Again, another thing to evaluate and maybe be surprised.

Next on the Gardening Agenda

• Complete planting in the cold frame/lettuce box. I have plenty of lettuce, kale, Pak Choi, and Baby Napa Cabbage to fill the cold frame. In a week or so, the windows (lids) will come off the cold frame, and netting will go on as the weather warms and the danger of frost passes.
• Plant radish and Swiss Chard seeds.
• Plant Mesclun lettuce mix and crispy head lettuce seeds.
• Plant potatoes.