Peas..In my keyboard!

[Pharmer Phil]

well Pholks, I'm a sittin' here a Shellin' peas, and visiting with Ya'll.
laura picked a big mess of them today, and I ain't about to let em go to waste.
Interesting fact: Peas loose about 40% of their sweetness within Hours of Pickin'!
Same as sweetcorn, the sugars begin turning to starch!
So I will Shell, blanch and Freeze these beauties before they can decline!!!

[douglas]

Yeah I have another mess to pull myself in a few days, more work shucking than picking them

[Songbird]

Boy, I'd give alot to have a mess of peas to shell!

Mine are pretty much dead.
In fact, I think I'll clean out that whole area...

maybe next year.

I didn't know that about loosing the sweetness, Phil!
Good info! Thanks!

[jeanette]

what do you think happened to your peas songbird?
too hot maybe?

[Emily]

Looks like you have a bunch of exscape peas, Jeannette ::

[jeanette]

oh em that really was a good one!!!

[Compost Pharmer]

I planted peas again this year. They got about 12 inches tall them shriveled up and died. This is the second year in a row. This happened before the hot summer temperatures. I pulled them up and did not see and pests on the roots. Guess they don't like my black clay improved with dried molasses, hort cornmeal, and compost.

[Laura]

All of our Peas are doing well. It is the Green bean's that get too me.. They grow like weed's after the 1st time you pick them.. I think they take revenge on you for picking..the Peas on the other hand are just a lil bit slower then the beans..

[Songbird]

Go figure on the peas... I wish I knew!
Mine did that same thing... got a foot tall, and began to shrivel.
I know they don't like water on the leaves, and I was careful this year to water at ground level.
They weren't climbing, so I gently tied them to the twig fence I made. They started going down right after that.

I got three snow peas, and about a dozen round peas that I ate in a salad, before it was over! Enough to make me want to figure it out and try again!

[Pharmer Phil]

Song, Although ours are doing well, it could be better.
The weather has been very hot for here, the pods, are not fillling out as well as they should.
It IS the heat...barring any "mistakes" that you may have made.
I remember that it was about mid april before you had your peas planted.
That would have been Close to,too late for Minnesota, let alone Kansas.
Clean up your spot, plant something there to Nourish that area, or any area of your garden that you are not currently using, I like planting Buckwheat, or any High Nitrogen green manure crop, till it in at seasons end and the soil will be much improved for next years garden.
Then, Plant your peas, As early as possible, as soon as the ground can be worked.
Our Cauliflower,(also a 'cool season" crop, is suffering also from the heat, Out of 13 plants, we will harvest at best 6 heads, several have went from a golf ball sized head, to a ugly green mass, a sign of too Hot growing conditions. Cauliflower's best growth temps are in the 60's, and Now, as the heads started forming, We have been getting 80's and 90's, for a couple weeks, _{talk about GO FIGURE!!!} Never been that way here before the cauliflower was in the freezer!

[Songbird]

yea, I'm sure you're right on the heat.
Sure disheartening!

I was wondering what I should do with the area that's going to be left open.
I've never heard of planting buckwheat.
Where would I get seeds?

Is there any edible crop I coudl plant this late that could tolerate heat and build the soil too??

[Pharmer Phil]

any bean crop, edible soybeans, green beans, all fix nitrogen in the soil, till the plants,roots and all in after you harvest.
And what, Ya never had Buckwheat Pancakes??? Yummy
seed should be available at any large seed dealer, heck we get ours in Faribault and Farmers Seed and Nursery, it's a small town.

[Songbird]

yea, I've had buckwheat pancakes, but i never thought to grow it!
I'll have to check around locally an see what's available.

[Compost Pharmer]

Would buckwheat be something good to grow in the garden, over winter, then till in in the spring before planting the garden? How hard would it be to till in?

[jeanette]

my peas, brocolli, cauliflower, brusselsprouts are suffering too, i don't even have heads on my cauliflower, and no little brussel sprouts, i was looking forward to tying the Bsprouts, i've never grown them before. oh well looks like i didn't grow them this time either.

[Pharmer Phil]

gar said:

Would buckwheat be something good to grow in the garden, over winter, then till in in the spring before planting the garden? How hard would it be to till in?

Greg, I am not really in tune with yer grow seasons there, But here, an early crop of buckwheat,(soon as the ground can be worked) can be grown to maturity, tilled in, it will reseed itself and till it in again before it seeds again. Now, a crop put in here in august, after the early maturing plants come out, is just about to flower when it's time to till, right before the killing frost. It takes about 45 days to flower, 60 to be mature here.

[Compost Pharmer]

Phil, I was thinking of planting the buckwheat, after the garden is finished for the year and letting it grow over winter and till it in the spring. I don't want to harvest it. I was thinking it might be a good amendment to the garden. Not sure what it will supply. I think it might be bettter then just letting the weeds grow and I defiently don't want to leave soil bare. I was just curious how hard it would be to till the buckweat in the spring. Or do you think I should cut it close to the ground first? I have a front tine 5.5HP tiller.

[Pharmer Phil]

The only problem tilling it under in the spring would be...you'd have buckwheat growing...EVerywhere!
I will add a Buckwheat and Cover crop thread!