In My Garden

These flowers are my Oriental Stargazer Lilies. They have just started blooming and smell sooooo good! I have had them several years, and they have made a large clump. In the spring I find that the snails are drawn to eat the leaves, so I use Sluggo to prevent problems. The lilies prefer afternoon shade, which they had when I first planted them, but they now are in direct sun. They get a little sunburned and don't look too happy, but they still bloom and grow well. They are an evergreen plant, meaning they don't die back to the ground each winter, but continue to have green leaves through the whole year.

I shelled my dried peas and ended up with 1 3/4 cups of seeds. I will pick out the best seeds to plant for fall. The fall pea planting date for our area is around September 1. The seeds are directly put into the soil, no need to start them indoors. I have found that sometimes it is just too hot in the fall for a good crop of peas, and will sometimes wait until early spring to plant them.

A Good Morning . . .

This morning I went out to pick tomatoes and found that there were a lot more than I saw yesterday--many were hidden under the leaves. I had about equal amounts of Roma (a paste tomato), Juane Flamme (a medium-small golden tomato that produces through the high heat), and cherry tomatoes. The Romas will go into the freezer until I have enough to make pizza sauce (I like to use it for spaghetti, too!). When I get a lot at once, I will can diced tomatoes. The other tomatoes I will eat today and tomorrow (yes, I love tomatoes!). I also picked (but forgot to photograph) 5 yellow beets. I will roast them for my dinner tonight.

I harvested my spring peas, so I can plant them next spring. As I was picking the peas I almost grabbed a wheat colored (my pea plants are dried and wheat colored) praying mantis that was about 5 inches long. After I was finished picking, I gathered up the pea straw and the mantis and placed them on an empty garden bed that is being used as a compost bed, and will be planted next spring. That way the mantis will have her habitat, and I will recycle the plant material. I will shell the peas and keep the largest ones to replant. I gathered some lettuce seeds, too, so I will have seeds to plant next summer.

I also harvested my garlic. Some of the bulbs are small and others are large. I suppose it depends on the size of clove I started out with. I used a bulb of garlic from the market last spring, and now I have my own garlic to cook with, and some to plant next spring. I will keep the largest cloves to replant, and eat the rest.

Lastly, I topped my apricot trees. Apricots need to be pruned about now, instead of winter. This will lessen the chance of the trees becoming diseased. Also, these trees are semi-dwarf and I want to keep them low enough so that I can pick the apricots without a ladder. Apricots can get out of hand in a year or two if not pruned back. I had a semi-dwarf apricot before that went 12 feet high and spread out all over the place! I learned that lesson well! According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, now through August 3rd is the time to prune trees and shrubs that you want to keep their shape. August 10-16 is the time to prune trees and shrubs that you want to encourage growth, such as for increased height or filling in thin spots. Yes, there are a lot of weeds in this bed, very happy weeds! You might be able to see one of my many pecan trees in the left bottom corner. I will be going after the pecans next. The blue jays plant them in my yard every year, so it's an ongoing battle. I have seen other yards in my area that have pecan trees, too, so I'm not the only one!

Peas

These are my peas that I planted in February. On the right are Sugar Ann peas (from seed that I saved last year), and on the left, a new one for me--Estancia peas. The Estancia have less leaves and more tendrils, which looks kind of strange! Estancia has not started blooming yet, but should within a few days. The Sugar Ann peas are already blooming. It will be interesting to taste the difference in the two kinds of peas!

Peas! Peas! Peas!

It's pea-planting time! There are different types of peas, something for everyone!

When my boys were very young they would go out into the garden and graze. They both loved peas right off of the plant, raw and crunchy--one son would even eat the tough, stringy pods, too. All through their teens they would eat raw or frozen peas, never cooked. Today they are in their 30's and I think they tolerate cooked peas, although fresh is best!

Peas are a legume, which means they fix nitrogen in the soil in a way that it benefits other plants. Because of this process peas are considered a "heavy giver". There are other plants that are heavy givers, some that are heavy feeders, and others that are light feeders. This is one reason to rotate various crops in the garden, so that the soil won't be depleted completely. With rotation, the soil can be revived by different crops. Of course, fertilization helps, too.

There are peas for shelling, Chinese pea pods, and edible podded or snap peas. They all grow the same way--either on bush plants, or vines that may need trellising (check the seed packet for instructions of the particular peas purchased).

Plant vining peas 1-2" apart in double rows with a trellis between the rows. Plant bush varieties on 6" centers (6" between each seed, in every direction). Plant the seeds 1" deep and cover with soil. Keep moist until the seeds germinate, 7-14 days. Peas mature in 55-65 days. Peas also tolerate partial shade.

There is a new pea called "Blondie" that is not green, but is a cream color. If you have children that won't eat "green" vegetables, you might try this one!