Consolidated Kansas

[22qZoo]

CHERWIL: ah.. That sounds nice, shelling peas and watching tv. Wish I had planted some this year sounds like its a good year for them.

 

[cherwill]

have you ever tried Sugar Snap peas? You eat the pods, but you wait for them to fill out to pick them. They look fat like regular peas, but the pods are as tasty as the seeds. That way you don't have to shell them. I do string them (like beans), but they are much easier to prepare and you get more bang for the buck. I plant them every year in a different place so that my garden can benefit from the nitrogen boost for the next year. Some years they thrive (like this year) and other years they don't do well, but it is worth the effort. We love them. Not so much snow peas -- don't like the little flat pods.

DH doesn't like snow peas either. I do, but I don't see the point in growing them because I'd never fix them. We both like sugar snaps, but I haven't tried to grow them yet.

We do crop rotation, too. I have the plots divided into sections, then we rotate a quarter turn each year.

CHERWIL: ah.. That sounds nice, shelling peas and watching tv. Wish I had planted some this year sounds like its a good year for them.

I don't mind shelling peas at all if I can sit on my behind and watch TV!

 

[HEChicken]

Cherwill you sound like a very organized gardener - I know I could learn a thing or two from you. In the past I didn't have a big enough area to rotate a lot (i.e. some areas were best suited for one thing and not another, and therefore rotating wasn't an option). Now that I have a much bigger garden plot, I will have to watch for that next year. This year I emptied my DLM bedding as mulch on the garden but deliberately did not put it at one end so I could plant tomatoes and peppers there. I learned from experience that the high nitrogen content of chicken poop will allow tomatoes to grow a terrific amount of green growth (I had plants 7' tall!) but not set many fruit. Instead I planted greens where I had put the chicken poop, figuring if they took off, I wouldn't mind a bit. So far its paying off. My chard is going great guns and my tomatoes have stayed small so far but are already loaded with fruit. But I'll have to be thinking about reversing it next year....

 

[sharol]

Snap peas are easy to grow -- just work like regular peas. I usually buy the larger plastic bag of seeds and plant 3 rows about 6inches apart and then put the trellis over the middle row. This was a bumper crop year, but I always get a few even when it gets hot, early. I got the nylon trellis stuff from Gurney (I think), and it can be reused for 3 or 4 years before it gets nasty if you clean it out when the peas are done and roll it up on a 2x4 or something.

 

[chicken danz]

Busy day today. I wonder if I will ever get caught up. I had a breakfast meeting this morning and some other stuff planned for the afternoon. I have slowly been trying to do some cleaning cause I have company coming this weekend. That is not going well. Th rain and the mud and the 100 or so chicks in the house has put that to the impossible to obtain category.

 

[RoosterLew]

Wow, could not imagine that many chicks to keep up with. Not without a facility just for that!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I have 6 silkies around 4 weeks one is frizzle so I am so excited. The white silkie has what looks like a blob at th ecorner of her eye. Looks like the white of the eye is just puffy. They are perfectly healthy otherwise. Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[HEChicken]

Snap peas are easy to grow -- just work like regular peas. I usually buy the larger plastic bag of seeds and plant 3 rows about 6inches apart and then put the trellis over the middle row. This was a bumper crop year, but I always get a few even when it gets hot, early. I got the nylon trellis stuff from Gurney (I think), and it can be reused for 3 or 4 years before it gets nasty if you clean it out when the peas are done and roll it up on a 2x4 or something.

Beautiful picture of your garden! So by putting the trellis over the middle row, do you train the other two rows to grow up the one trellis?

Th rain and the mud and the 100 or so chicks in the house has put that to the impossible to obtain category.

I can certainly see how that would make things a little more difficult.

I have 6 silkies around 4 weeks one is frizzle so I am so excited. The white silkie has what looks like a blob at th ecorner of her eye. Looks like the white of the eye is just puffy. They are perfectly healthy otherwise. Does anyone know anything about this?

Sorry, I don't know anything about that - maybe a picture? I did want to comment that I did a shorter trail ride with my horse today and we came across a stand of the compass plants and he went nuts eating as many as he could in the time allotted for grazing. So I guess it sure appeals to horses. Maybe if I ever run some beef cattle in our pasture they will be interested in eating them too.

 

[sharol]

Thanks. I gave up on the weeds weeks ago (the ones in the pea rows) because I kept pulling out peas with the weeds (crafty little suckers, weeds).

The total distance between the rows is only 12", so all 3 rows climb the single trellis. I plant them pretty close together, too. You can get by with that if you water and the soil is reasonably fertile (chicken poo, composted works great ;-) ) That also gets the flowers closer together for pollination.

Beautiful picture of your garden! So by putting the trellis over the middle row, do you train the other two rows to grow up the one trellis?

 

[chicken danz]

Wow, could not imagine that many chicks to keep up with. Not without a facility just for that!

Oh that is just in the house. The other few hundred are out in the brooder house!