Southern Pea

The Southern Peas were planted on April 1st 2011. There are three rows of 14 plants each. I plan to plant a few more rows as I have time to clear the rest of the garden. Right now, collard greens from last fall are blooming and producing seed. Once they're done with that, I'll clear and plant more peas and okra. Nothing but peas, okra and tomatoes this year. I had a few small patches of peas last year at various times, as an experiment. The plants germinate and grow very well, even when planted in the middle of August! It was very interesting to see these tiny pea seedlings thrive on hot August days. By comparison I have tried to plant beans before, but they have always germinated and grown terribly even when planted in the nurturing conditions of the spring. The bean experiments have never lasted very long. In any case, the peas grow well and are not defeated by the hot and dry summer. The quantity of peas harvested was neither insignificant nor impressive, but the flavor of the peas harvested at the green mature stage is amazing. I hope I have enough plants to eat peas often this summer.

Update 4/8/2011: About half of the seeds have sprouted.

Update 5/19/2011: I had to scrap the first planting of southern peas. The good news is that when I pulled them up there was evidence of nitrogen-fixing bacteria on the roots. Thrips had attacked the original planting from the beginning, but the most damage was done to the peas from a spell of cold and wet weather. They looked terrible after that. I planted too early since southern peas don't respond well to cool weather. The next batch was planted on 5/6/2011. Germination was good. The seedlings look good now, and none appear to be damaged by thrips. Perhaps the warmer conditions lead to better resistance to the thrips.