Peas and Carrots

GoDawgs · March 6, 2020

Ahhhhhh, the SUN was out today! I had almost forgotten what it looked like. And no rain in the forecast for the next four days! Woo hoo!

This morning my sister Pickles and I headed to the garden to uncover the one planted pea bed. It had been covered to keep the rain OUT. We needed to get that big plastic sheet folded up before the wind got up. It was supposed to be 15-20 mph with gusts to 30. We got it done just in the nick of time, too. The plastic is wet but I didn’t hang it up to dry because big winds would probably rip it right off the line. That will happen tomorrow.

But look what was under the plastic... peas popping up on each side of the line! Those poor things got planted Feb 28 in soil just short of sopping and then two days later the overnight lows dropped into the upper 20's. Soil temp went from 60 to 45. I was hoping they wouldn't just rot away and here they are.

Time to get the pea fence installed on each side. The baling twine marks the fence line between the double row of seeds. But that too will wait until tomorrow.

I did pull some more carrots though. These are the first Yaya, sown back in mid October. It's the first time I've tried them and they're a winner. They will be added to the A Team, a list of stuff that needs to be grown every year. I’m supposed to plant the spring carrots next week but only if the beds dry out enough. We’ll see. Waaaaay behind planting everything!

PhilaGardener · March 6, 2020

Beautiful carrots! My peas are in the ground now too!

rxkeith · March 7, 2020

i like the looks of those carrots too.

i ordered four varieties from sandhill, can't just order one of anything. that would mean
making too many decisions.

you may be waaaay behind planting down your way, but you are about three months
ahead of me if that makes you feel any better. still around 3ft of snow on the ground
here, i kid you not. a couple of back to back 50 degree days will shrink it some. gonna
take awhile though.

keith

b54red · March 12, 2020

My peas are doing great and are about 15 inches tall and even a few have a bloom or two on them. They are the frost proof pea called Willet Wonder and I love growing them because unless you have a terrible freeze they can get burned by most freezes and just start growing again. They do need a good tall fence to support them because if not they will just make a big wadded mess full of aphids and mildew with fairly low production. I am using that cheap orange safety fencing stretched between some conduit so I have a 4 ft fence to give them support. I hope it works because this is the first time I have tried using it; but it sure is easier to put up than wire fencing. I find growing them a little more predictable because I don't have to try to guess the correct time to plant them. I just put them in the ground any time from mid December through February and they usually produce fairly well if the mildew and aphids aren't too bad.

I have been pulling carrots for about a month and my first planting is mostly ready now and my second planting is only a few weeks from being ready to pull. I don't plant carrots this late because even though they make the sugar content seems so much lower when they form in the hot weather of April and May. I grow a variety called Sugar Snax and they usually survive through the winters moderate freezes down here but I sometimes lose some to real bone chillers when they hit.

Bill

GoDawgs · March 29, 2020

More fall-planted carrots. This time there's Napoli (on the left) and Danvers Half Long (on the right.

This is the first time that I've had success with the Danvers. I have no idea why because I plant them the same way and in the same bed with the other varieties. I just had some seed left and used it to finish the row.

I like the Napoli but sometimes the ferns aren't real strong and break off when I'm trying to pull them out. Because of that I was going to delete them from the lineup. But then I read about a trick where you grab the ferns right at the top of the carrot, push the carrot down about an inch and then pull it right out. Easy peasy and it works like a charm. Go figure.

March 6, 2020	#1
GoDawgs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b Posts: 1,685	Peas and Carrots Ahhhhhh, the SUN was out today! I had almost forgotten what it looked like. And no rain in the forecast for the next four days! Woo hoo! This morning my sister Pickles and I headed to the garden to uncover the one planted pea bed. It had been covered to keep the rain OUT. We needed to get that big plastic sheet folded up before the wind got up. It was supposed to be 15-20 mph with gusts to 30. We got it done just in the nick of time, too. The plastic is wet but I didn’t hang it up to dry because big winds would probably rip it right off the line. That will happen tomorrow. But look what was under the plastic... peas popping up on each side of the line! Those poor things got planted Feb 28 in soil just short of sopping and then two days later the overnight lows dropped into the upper 20's. Soil temp went from 60 to 45. I was hoping they wouldn't just rot away and here they are. Time to get the pea fence installed on each side. The baling twine marks the fence line between the double row of seeds. But that too will wait until tomorrow. I did pull some more carrots though. These are the first Yaya, sown back in mid October. It's the first time I've tried them and they're a winner. They will be added to the A Team, a list of stuff that needs to be grown every year. I’m supposed to plant the spring carrots next week but only if the beds dry out enough. We’ll see. Waaaaay behind planting everything!

March 7, 2020	#3
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,848	i like the looks of those carrots too. i ordered four varieties from sandhill, can't just order one of anything. that would mean making too many decisions. you may be waaaay behind planting down your way, but you are about three months ahead of me if that makes you feel any better. still around 3ft of snow on the ground here, i kid you not. a couple of back to back 50 degree days will shrink it some. gonna take awhile though. keith __________________ don't abort. we'll adopt.

March 6, 2020	#2
PhilaGardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Near Philadelphia, PA Posts: 1,940	Beautiful carrots! My peas are in the ground now too!

March 12, 2020	#4
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	My peas are doing great and are about 15 inches tall and even a few have a bloom or two on them. They are the frost proof pea called Willet Wonder and I love growing them because unless you have a terrible freeze they can get burned by most freezes and just start growing again. They do need a good tall fence to support them because if not they will just make a big wadded mess full of aphids and mildew with fairly low production. I am using that cheap orange safety fencing stretched between some conduit so I have a 4 ft fence to give them support. I hope it works because this is the first time I have tried using it; but it sure is easier to put up than wire fencing. I find growing them a little more predictable because I don't have to try to guess the correct time to plant them. I just put them in the ground any time from mid December through February and they usually produce fairly well if the mildew and aphids aren't too bad. I have been pulling carrots for about a month and my first planting is mostly ready now and my second planting is only a few weeks from being ready to pull. I don't plant carrots this late because even though they make the sugar content seems so much lower when they form in the hot weather of April and May. I grow a variety called Sugar Snax and they usually survive through the winters moderate freezes down here but I sometimes lose some to real bone chillers when they hit. Bill

March 29, 2020	#5
GoDawgs Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: Augusta area, Georgia, 8a/7b Posts: 1,685	More fall-planted carrots. This time there's Napoli (on the left) and Danvers Half Long (on the right. This is the first time that I've had success with the Danvers. I have no idea why because I plant them the same way and in the same bed with the other varieties. I just had some seed left and used it to finish the row. I like the Napoli but sometimes the ferns aren't real strong and break off when I'm trying to pull them out. Because of that I was going to delete them from the lineup. But then I read about a trick where you grab the ferns right at the top of the carrot, push the carrot down about an inch and then pull it right out. Easy peasy and it works like a charm. Go figure.