Peas Please!

Though a little late according some local (not so old) old-timers, we got some peas planted in the garden this past weekend. Near the strawberry patch along the fence we planted High Mowing Seeds' Laxton Progress #9 and Sow True Seed Green Arrow shelling peas. Paired in the area of the shelling peas are HMS Early Wonder Tall Top Beets and STS Detroit Dark Red beets. Farther back along the fence we'll plant snow peas and snap peas.

Shelling peas are what we're used to buying canned or frozen at the grocery store. They're the peas you "shell" or harvest from the pod once they plump on the vine. We'll also plant sugar peas, which are the flat, tender peas which are picked young and eaten pod and all. Sometimes these require stringing, but often are picked young and tender enough they don't need it. We'll also have a plot of snap peas, which are a hybrid of shelling and sugar peas and are picked when the peas have plumped but before the pod walls have thickened. When picked at this time, the pea will be sweet and tender, and can be eaten pod and all.

What we've planted as described by High Mowing and Sow True:

Green Arrow Shelling Peas Bushy plants grow 24-28" vines that do fine with minimal support. Reliable producer of double borne pods 4-5" long. Resistant to many common diseases.Days to maturity: 65 days 
Laxton's Progress #9 Shell Pea - A leading garden pea with short vines and plump pods that hold dark-green peas of excellent quality. Small 15-20” plants produce heavy yields of 4-5” long pods, with up to nine peas per pod (hence the name). An improvement over the original Laxton’s Progress with a high resistance to wilt. (Pisum sativum)Days to maturity: 60 days
Organic Early Wonder Tall Top Beet - Earliest variety! Quick growing arching tops make perfect beet greens for a first harvest, while roots size up quickly for a second harvest of delectable baby bunched beets. Early Wonder also makes for a wonderful full size beet with vibrant tops. Not as hardy as Detroit Dark Red, but of similar quality for early season crops. (Beta vulgaris) Days to maturity: 45 days 
Detroit Dark Red, ORGANIC Beta vulgaris HEIRLOOM This is the beet that fell in love with a mason jar! A consistent producer for canning, juicing, pickling, or roasting. Burgundy globe-shaped roots with bright green leaves and little zoning. Days to maturity: 50-60 days 

In full disclosure: This year's crops are largely in thanks to High Mowing Seeds and Sow True Seed, two companies who generously donated a fantastic array of seeds to our garden. As a grow share garden, we do not charge plot fees, and therefore do not have a source of income. We rely on donations to keep our organic garden growing!

Getting seeds in the soil

This year we're relying on donations from High Mowing Seeds and Sow True to fill our rows. The High Mowing seeds arrived on Saturday and I immediately sat down to play with (oops, organize) them.

Sorry for the bad phone pics. I couldn't peel my hands from the package long enough to get a proper camera. I started one flat of 72 cells to get a few seeds going. Now is the time to start your perennials from seed (echinacea and herbs for example).  Looks like we have a few weeks to get the rest of our starts going. We are about 9 weeks out from our average last frost date of April 15; most veggie seeds that get an indoor head start should be sown 4-6 weeks from that date.

Garden-Sourced Holidays

Although we're still ironing out details, I'm excited to announce a crafty fundraiser to get us a little closer to a new shed in the garden!

When we get all the details solidified, I'll show you the whole flyer. Until then, here's a few of the ornaments you can come and make with us:

Fresh new faces in the garden

We'd like to welcome the newest team of Johnson and Wales students who picked our garden as part of their Community Service Learning this semester.

These lucky gals (and guys...they're not all pictured) will learn to:

• prepare garden beds for fall planting using eco-friendly methods; 
• harvest fall crops for personal use as well as for use at Friendship Trays; 
• learn the importance and the connection of the soil to all food and food products; 
• and prepare and maintain compost bins as a means of waste reduction and soil management.

Welcome everyone! Now get to weeding!

Compost Classes

If you live in Charlotte, there are lots of opportunities for learning about composting in the coming year. Want to know more and register for a class or 2? Visit Wipe Out Waste.

Using the Harvest: Sweet Potato Leaves

This past Saturday, these greens (a combination of sorrel, sweet potato leaves, and Malabar spinach), with the addition of some frozen chopped spinach, became a spinach and cheese pie.

Did you know you can eat sweet potato leaves? They're a great spinach substitute. I collect the young leaves that still have a bit of shininess to them. When I'm using them in a recipe like this pie I quickly blanch them prior to making the pie filling. 

The crust is a basic Pâte Brisée but I skipped the sugar because I don't like the slightest hint of sweetness with a savory filling.  The filling is very similar to this one, but I added some mozzarella since I had it on hand. 

Pictures from the Garden

wipeoutwaste's photostream on Flickr.