It's that time of year again when spring gardens are being prepared for planting. But what do you do when you're brand new to vegetable gardening and want to have peas this spring?
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Pea Seeds
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Planting peas is an easy -- and rewarding - task but there are a few things you'll need to do before you plant. The first is to buy pea seeds.
Now, it may cross your mind that you could just reach into the freezer and got some peas out of that bag you keep in there for emergencies. Same dif, right? Well, no.
Those peas are the end product and meant to be eaten not planted. It's what you'll have after you harvest and shell your peas.
Head to the home center or a store like Wal-Mart, go into the garden section and look for a display selling packets of vegetable and flower seeds. You should be able to find pea seeds this time of year (late winter/early spring). There are sugar snap peas, early edible pod peas, and snow peas among other varieties.
The kind you choose depends on what you'd like to do. A sugar snap pea is one of the sweetest varieties and should be shelled. That means you'll unzip the pea pod and remove the peas from it before eating them.
You can also grow peas that don't need to be shelled before eating and these are the easiest to deal with. Snow peas are the type that you see regularly in Asian cuisine. The peas themselves do not grow large inside the shell.
You don't want sweet pea seeds for vegetable gardening because they are grown only for their flowers and not to eat. They're beautiful and many varieties are fragrant.
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Getting Them Ready to Plant
**********************************
Once you have your pea seeds and you're ready to plant there are two other things to prepare. Make sure that the garden area you're using has a trellis or other support because peas like to climb.
The soil should be prepared by turning it over and removing any weeds or debris from the winter. Give it a sprinkle with water so it's ready to go.
The night before you're going to plant your pea seeds, get out a bowl and fill it with water. Open up the seeds packet(s) and empty them into the bowl. Let them sit overnight.
This softens up the hard outer shell and will allow the seeds to germinate easier. When a pea seed germinates, it sends a delicate shoot out of the shell. The problem with pea shells initially is that the outer coating is so hard sometimes that seedling can't break through it. Soaking the seeds overnight gives seedlings a head start.
***********
Planting
***********
Pea seeds don't have to be sown deeply. The best method is to use your index finger and poke a hole up to about the middle of your finger. Drop one pea seed into each hole and cover with soil. You should see seedlings popping up in 10-14 days.
Growing peas in your spring garden will give you beautiful flowering vines as well as a wonderful treat when the peas reach maturity
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6097037
****************
Pea Seeds
****************
Planting peas is an easy -- and rewarding - task but there are a few things you'll need to do before you plant. The first is to buy pea seeds.
Now, it may cross your mind that you could just reach into the freezer and got some peas out of that bag you keep in there for emergencies. Same dif, right? Well, no.
Those peas are the end product and meant to be eaten not planted. It's what you'll have after you harvest and shell your peas.
Head to the home center or a store like Wal-Mart, go into the garden section and look for a display selling packets of vegetable and flower seeds. You should be able to find pea seeds this time of year (late winter/early spring). There are sugar snap peas, early edible pod peas, and snow peas among other varieties.
The kind you choose depends on what you'd like to do. A sugar snap pea is one of the sweetest varieties and should be shelled. That means you'll unzip the pea pod and remove the peas from it before eating them.
You can also grow peas that don't need to be shelled before eating and these are the easiest to deal with. Snow peas are the type that you see regularly in Asian cuisine. The peas themselves do not grow large inside the shell.
You don't want sweet pea seeds for vegetable gardening because they are grown only for their flowers and not to eat. They're beautiful and many varieties are fragrant.
**********************************
Getting Them Ready to Plant
**********************************
Once you have your pea seeds and you're ready to plant there are two other things to prepare. Make sure that the garden area you're using has a trellis or other support because peas like to climb.
The soil should be prepared by turning it over and removing any weeds or debris from the winter. Give it a sprinkle with water so it's ready to go.
The night before you're going to plant your pea seeds, get out a bowl and fill it with water. Open up the seeds packet(s) and empty them into the bowl. Let them sit overnight.
This softens up the hard outer shell and will allow the seeds to germinate easier. When a pea seed germinates, it sends a delicate shoot out of the shell. The problem with pea shells initially is that the outer coating is so hard sometimes that seedling can't break through it. Soaking the seeds overnight gives seedlings a head start.
***********
Planting
***********
Pea seeds don't have to be sown deeply. The best method is to use your index finger and poke a hole up to about the middle of your finger. Drop one pea seed into each hole and cover with soil. You should see seedlings popping up in 10-14 days.
Growing peas in your spring garden will give you beautiful flowering vines as well as a wonderful treat when the peas reach maturity
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6097037
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