Grower - status 487506334

Hoping it's not too late for peas where I live...starting again this week

Be patient with the peas. If they're sugar snap peas, they take a while. Some of mine took more than two weeks to germinate but they are doing fine now. I, too, thought it was poor germination at first.

Here's my method with peas - usually I grow Oregon Sugar Snap >>> I prepare the spring pea trench during the fall garden cleanup. The trench is about 4" deep & 4" wide. Since I garden in zone 4, with a freezing winter, sometimes I take the trench fill indoors in 5 gallon buckets, so it isn't frozen solid when I want to use it. In the spring - either have microbial innoculant for legumes on hand or order some online. www.growbiointensive.org is John Jeavons site for Ecology Action & they have inoculants in gardener sizes. So does Seeds of Change. When the snow melts off the south-facing trench - sometimes with help from a shovel - I soak the peas overnight, drain them, & rinse them a couple of times a day in their quart jar until they sprout. Be careful not to break off sprouts while rinsing. When the sprouts are ~1/4" long, I put the seeds in a shallow dish & dust & turn them with inoculant. Sprinkle them in the trench about 4" apart - too close planting will make the growth lesser. Cover with the trench fill soil about one inch deep. Later, as the peas start to grow & especially as it gets warmer, fill in the trench deeper to keep the roots cool. Peas like cool roots & it really extends the harvest & leaf health. Last, but actually first - provide a really sturdy trellis, because Oregon Sugar Pod peas grown this way get 6'+ tall & very bushy & productive. Using this method I have had OSPPs up 14" when there was a hard-frost that froze them translucent. They recovered by themselves & grew on to a great harvest - maybe the best ever!

Here's my method with peas - usually I grow Oregon Sugar Snap >>> I prepare the spring pea trench during the fall garden cleanup. The trench is about 4" deep & 4" wide. Since I garden in zone 4, with a freezing winter, sometimes I take the trench fill indoors in 5 gallon buckets, so it isn't frozen solid when I want to use it. In the spring - either have microbial innoculant for legumes on hand or order some online. www.growbiointensive.org is John Jeavons site for Ecology Action & they have inoculants in gardener sizes. So does Seeds of Change. When the snow melts off the south-facing trench - sometimes with help from a shovel - I soak the peas overnight, drain them, & rinse them a couple of times a day in their quart jar until they sprout. Be careful not to break off sprouts while rinsing. When the sprouts are ~1/4" long, I put the seeds in a shallow dish & dust & turn them with inoculant. Sprinkle them in the trench about 4" apart - too close planting will make the growth lesser. Cover with the trench fill soil about one inch deep. Later, as the peas start to grow & especially as it gets warmer, fill in the trench deeper to keep the roots cool. Peas like cool roots & it really extends the harvest & leaf health. Last, but actually first - provide a really sturdy trellis, because Oregon Sugar Pod peas grown this way get 6'+ tall & very bushy & productive. Using this method I have had OSPPs up 14" when there was a hard-frost that froze them translucent. They recovered by themselves & grew on to a great harvest - maybe the best ever!