The Fruits (and Veggies) of Summer! (With photos!) - Beyond Tiki

H Haole'akamai Member The Polynesian Port of NOLA Joined: Jul 07, 2005 Posts: 2276	H Haole'akamai Posted posted on Fri, Jun 1, 2007 3:04 PM Every summer I look forward to a few things: Backyard get-togethers, longer days, and my birthday (Gemini baby here), of course. I also really really REALLY look forward to sugar snap peas. I love them. When they are in season, I'll eat them at every meal and in-between, given my druthers. Yes, I've had a bowl of them for breakfast instead of a bowl of cereal. Biggest issue, they're expensive. I'm buying them in-season, IN California, and they will still run me about $5 a pound. This year, I set about making our front yard into a WWII-era victory garden, planting fruits, veggies and the medicinal herbs a mid-century housewife would desire, from seed. When I went seed shopping last February, you know what I picked out first. That's right, sugar snap peas. I went on to also choose carrots, parsley, basil, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic chives, and midget cantaloupes, but that's another story; we're discussing my sugar snap peas right now. I started my seeds inside, in this "incubation" tray that hold 100 seedlings. The pack of pea seeds had 50 and I started all 50 of those seeds, leaving the rest of the tray to 5 of this, 3 of that, etc. Within about 8 days, I started seeing growth. My little pea seeds were sprouting and glorious! I gave them another month or so, to be inside during the last of our freezing cold nights. In the end, 42 of the 50 seeds sprouted. I planted them in my yard, against the inside of our wooden fence, the third week of March. They were happy! I'd go out and weed and visit with them. By the first week in April, they were already 2 feet tall, but not flowering. "That's ok," I told them, "just work on your root structures, my dears, we have all summer to flower." Sadly, the slugs moved in and I lost about 4 plants. Outraged, I fought back hard with copper banding and beer baits. The slugs never knew what hit 'em. By the first week of May, they were taller than the 3 and 1/2 foot fence they were growing on, and I had to put up a trellis. By this time, I was being rewarded with the sweetest little flowers. They didn't have a scent like their cousin, the sweet pea. Nor were they pretty pastel colors, just white, but I loved them anyway. I knew what they would become. I would wait with anticipation. When they got to be 7 feet tall, I got a little nervous, but I didn't fear because they were making my beloved Snap Pea. And make them they do! For the last two weeks, I've gone out every 3 or 4 days and harvested my sweet organic green gold. I'm averaging just about a pound a harvest. I couldn't be happier.... Books just want to be free! See what I mean at BookCrossing.Com [ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2008-03-25 10:11 ]

Every summer I look forward to a few things: Backyard get-togethers, longer days, and my birthday (Gemini baby here), of course.

I also really really REALLY look forward to sugar snap peas. I love them. When they are in season, I'll eat them at every meal and in-between, given my druthers. Yes, I've had a bowl of them for breakfast instead of a bowl of cereal.

Biggest issue, they're expensive. I'm buying them in-season, IN California, and they will still run me about $5 a pound.

This year, I set about making our front yard into a WWII-era victory garden, planting fruits, veggies and the medicinal herbs a mid-century housewife would desire, from seed.

When I went seed shopping last February, you know what I picked out first. That's right, sugar snap peas. I went on to also choose carrots, parsley, basil, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic chives, and midget cantaloupes, but that's another story; we're discussing my sugar snap peas right now.

I started my seeds inside, in this "incubation" tray that hold 100 seedlings. The pack of pea seeds had 50 and I started all 50 of those seeds, leaving the rest of the tray to 5 of this, 3 of that, etc. Within about 8 days, I started seeing growth. My little pea seeds were sprouting and glorious! I gave them another month or so, to be inside during the last of our freezing cold nights. In the end, 42 of the 50 seeds sprouted. I planted them in my yard, against the inside of our wooden fence, the third week of March.

They were happy! I'd go out and weed and visit with them. By the first week in April, they were already 2 feet tall, but not flowering. "That's ok," I told them, "just work on your root structures, my dears, we have all summer to flower." Sadly, the slugs moved in and I lost about 4 plants. Outraged, I fought back hard with copper banding and beer baits. The slugs never knew what hit 'em.

By the first week of May, they were taller than the 3 and 1/2 foot fence they were growing on, and I had to put up a trellis. By this time, I was being rewarded with the sweetest little flowers. They didn't have a scent like their cousin, the sweet pea. Nor were they pretty pastel colors, just white, but I loved them anyway. I knew what they would become. I would wait with anticipation.

When they got to be 7 feet tall, I got a little nervous, but I didn't fear because they were making my beloved Snap Pea.

And make them they do! For the last two weeks, I've gone out every 3 or 4 days and harvested my sweet organic green gold. I'm averaging just about a pound a harvest. I couldn't be happier....

Books just want to be free! See what I mean at BookCrossing.Com

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2008-03-25 10:11 ]

Post #310355 by Haole'akamai on Fri, Jun 1, 2007 3:04 PM