flocking pigeons
Early peas are cropping well this year.
We get them going in trays in the greenhouse and then plant them out under cloche protection in staggered sowings about two weeks apart. After they have got a good start, the fleece is removed and the sticks and netting go on for them to grow through.
The first batch are now being picked and the second batch are just about ready.
What I'd overlooked was flocking wood pigeons.
They had landed slap bang on top of the pea plants to feast on their leaves. The plants were flattened!
So, enter the netting protection. Hopefully there'll be a wonderful resurgence of growth by the weekend.
The marrowfat peas have been attacked in the same way, and they have had to be netted too. They will be in the soil for longer and their pods left until their contents are dry. I'm expecting them to recover from the aerial assault.
The shoots of late peas are now poking through compost in the greenhouse and will go into the ground vacated by broad beans. They will probably need fleece protection because of the dreaded pea moth.
And what a fine picture fresh-picked peas make!
5 comments:
I did a double take for a minute there. My peas have long been gone and now I am harvesting watermelon, cantaloupe, squash, pepper, beans,,,hot weather crops. Then I rememered, there are many time zones on blogger and we have different harvest times. : } I live on the Gulf Coast which is either 8b or 9 depending on which chart you read.
Living in the UK, we are on the same latitude as Labrador. We have the advantage of the warming gulf stream flowing up the Atlantic to make a difference to our climate. But we'll never grow cantalupes and only grow peppers under glass. And then with only patchy success.
But everywhere is very green!
My spring snap peas are long gone, too, like Eve's, but your lovely photo inspired me to add two sorts of shelling peas to one of my recent seed orders. I've never tried them before.
I'm planning to see if a fall crop cooperates -- the weather conditions are critical (like sometimes they're not?) We're always trying to coax along cool-season things in mid-to-late summer until it gets cooler in fall -- some years are great, others not so good. I'm going to give fava beans a try again for an overwintering crop -- they froze (and maybe thawed out too fast) last year.
Best,
Lisa
Hi Lisa
Have tried overwintering peas but with little success. Spring planted work best over here.
I took a little helper to collect peas and thought she'd love them. With the candour of a five year old she told me they tasted like green play dough!
Haven't tried fava beans and don't know them. What are they like?
Cheers
Rob
Hi, Rob--
I think what we're supposed to do here for a fall crop is to harvest the peas in late fall (before the first frost). We have such a long growing season in many years, and the last frost can be quite late, into late November (the 'average' fall frost date is supposedly still Oct. 15).
The fava beans are what you call broad beans in England, I think. Quite an unusual crop here, but getting more attention! I visited a master gardener last spring who had an annual party to celebrate her fava bean harvest (from overwintered crops!) -- she had spent time in Europe, apparently.
Cheers,
Lisa
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