Peas that please
By Barbara Damrosch
At the time of our country's founding, the saying was that a good gardener could produce peas by the king's birthday. The date was the Fourth of June, and the ruling monarch was George III, nicknamed "Farmer George" for his zest for agriculture. Less beloved by his former colonists, his connection with their pea crop became remote. Northerly states strove for a July 4 harvest instead, a choice both patriotic and timely for their climate. Meanwhile, in the region of the nation's capital, the traditional date for English or garden pea planting became George Washington's birthday, which happens to be today, Feb. 22.
Free now to honor the George of our choice, any American gardener is still nonetheless subject to the imperious whims of weather, temperature and the state of the soil. Whether you go out today with packet in hand depends on whether your soil can be properly worked. If it is still frozen, you will have to wait at least a week or two. If it has thawed but is still gummy with moisture, wait. Peas germinate best in a soil that is cool and moist, but not cold and wet.
If you are very sharp at this game, you might already have dug some shallow trenches for your peas last fall and filled them with compost, covered with an inch or two of soil. You can then plant your peas without having to do any more than cover them with an inch of soil, pat the furrow and say, "Go!" Apart from organically enriched soil, pea plants need consistent moisture when flowers and pods are forming. Lime is also needed if the soil pH is below 6.
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Photo credit: Lobo235
