Tuesday, April 7, 2009

art-deco snow peas

snow peas are perfect to plant when the ground is getting warm during the day but the weather is still dropping below 50 degrees at night.

in my garden, the oregon snow peas are doing fantastic, climbing up the trellises i make faster than i can extend them. i made the climbing structures out of the long dead branches pruned out of one of the of the trees & some natural twine.

the leaves are getting eaten a little by some moths & the occasional slug or snail around the lower leaves, but for the most part they are healthy and thriving. the delicate white flowers attract a variety of bees and butterflies & the white and green leaves with strong but thin tendrils are different everyday and are a joy to check on with the kids. these vines add life and green abundance to any yard, and are easy to grow.



young snow peas can be eaten in salads raw, but larger ones are best cooked in stir fries or curries. it is best to water before harvesting, and harvesting often allows the plant to produce more flowers and more peas most easily. expect yields to increase as you begin to harvest. the first few harvests will be small.



there are no rules when it comes to building structures for plants to climb on. i have snow peas in my large garden plot and on the side of the house (above). the peas on the side of the house were planted first, but are producing less all around. they did, however, survive and eventually produce through a huge flood of water for several weeks when it was raining relentlessly with chilly weather.

this trellis was built with a few random pieces of wood from old trellises, a few long sticks trimmed from the tree and the grated walls of a dismantled storage cube.

now, back to the garden!

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