spring seeds started

After mixing in about 2 yards of compost, we finally get some spring seeds started.
Nantes carrots
Snap peas
Cilantro
Bibb Lettuce
Rainbow Chard
Spinach
went in the ground today. I've laid newspaper down on top of the seeds to keep the hungry birds at bay. I swear there was an entire flock of starlings sitting in the hedgerow waiting for me to finish planting so they could swoop in and eat them up.
I also separated and replanted strawberries, doubled the size of the raspberry bed and thinned out the existing canes to start the new area.

How to grow snap peas

The sugar snap peas from Renee's Garden grew to almost 7' tall (about 16 plants) in our 40"x14" plot. They were planted April 5th. From 11 to 14 weeks they produced delicious sweet peas - about 2.5 lbs worth.

We've had a wet season, but they required very little special care, other than the teepee wound with string to support them. I pulled them down on July 5th because they had grown so tall they toppled over in the wind, but I think they would have easily kept growing and producing peas! See snap peas grow.

I chopped the plants and composted them, but chopped up the roots and left them in the soil. The roots of peas fix nitrogen and pull it into the soil.

I have seeded the area with more swiss chard.

Picture of snap pea flower turning into pea

Picture of snap pea flower

Growing Snap Peas

The snap peas are really hitting their stride. They've grown nearly 12" in the last 8 days. While the ones that I started inside 2 weeks earlier are not bigger than the peas that were seeded directly in the garden, they are starting to flower already.

Here they are - 7 weeks after direct sowing.

Frost damage

So we had a minor frost here two nights ago. I thought I was OK as long as temperatures stayed above 32, but apparently anything in the 30s is too much for the heating-loving plants. The eggplants looked wilted, the basil was burned black. The good news is that both seem to be doing fine after temperatures rebounded.

Pictured: Frost damaged on basil

C brought home some beans from school, so I planted those into the mix on the bean teepee.

The peas that I started inside are no bigger than the peas I planted directly in the garden. It seems there is no advantage to starting peas indoors.

Still no sign of corn. (Damn turkeys!)

When I plant the lettuce again in the fall, I will plant much more thickly so I get a blanket of lettuce coming up. When it comes time to thin, I can just eat what I thin. It should give me a few nights of salads of baby greens and allow a few heads to develop to full size.

Snap peas at 5 weeks in Massachusetts

First spring peas

These are snap peas at about 3 weeks.

The vegetable garden was started April 5th.

Survival

The garden survived our week away. The peas have sprouted and are going strong. There bibb lettuce, mesclun and mache are all showing great promise. There are even some chard and carrot sprouts starting to poke their way through. Nothing yet from the parsley or cilantro in the herb beds.
As if the chipmunks, bunnies and squirrels aren't enough to content with we now have wild turkeys as well! The bunnies are easy to scare away and Lucky does a good job of keeping watch. The chipmunks are a little cheeky, but even they will run when chased by a large grumbling animals (me). The turkeys, however, are terrifying. They're huge, and they just look at you. I am afraid of the turkeys.
Temperatures have been very warm - it's been in the low 90s for a few days. The leaves on the large trees are starting to come out.
As it stands now, the central and western beds get full sun from aboutb 9-5, with some additional dappled sun in the early morning and evening. The eastern bed gets full sun from about 11:30-5:30, but that big oak hasn't set its leaves yet.
On 4/26/09, I started some additional seeds in pots in doors. Despite the hot temps, we are still (technically) in frost territory. I started 2 pots each of Persian Cucumbers, Asian Cucumbers, French Beans, Kentucky Beans, Parsley and Basil.
The strawberries are looking perky and green. I mulched them with pine needles to up the acid content of the soil.