Beets, circa Fall 2008
Knowing that it’s a little early season-wise before a full planting, we chose to go ahead and transplant some sprouts. Faced with hectic schedules, and some major rains early in the week, we felt it was the best decision.
Roma paste, Brandywine and Mexican cherry tomatoes found new homes in the backyard, but the Pike County seeds weren’t as lucky as the others and are hanging out sprout-like for a while longer.
Some superb heirloom green beans, a treat from our friend Susannah, made it into the dirt. Last summer, we tried some green beans from seed a bit later in the season, but none of them took. Sprouting the beans indoors seems to be the answer, as all but one of our starters poked their heads out the soil and appear quite healthy.
Among all the veggies planned for this year’s summer garden, we’re most excited about the Stuart White Okra and the African Field Peas. Both plants are new to us as far as growing goes, but my stomach has savoured many gastro-binges of peas and roasted okra, and I’m looking forward to finding new ways to cook those slimy goons.
Field peas pose the biggest problem for us because we’ve never grown dried peas and their bush-growth style may overtake the section of the yard we set aside for them. Although field peas grow best in cooler temps – places less scorching than a Georgia summer – we were assured that they’d make a strong go of it. We’ll see
The best part of gardening is learning from your mistakes, and I’m really glad we don’t consult guide books too closely or follow a regimented system. Instead we rely on the advice of our friends, a little intuition that usually works out, the lessons of last year’s failures and (under my breath) the rare, super-quick Google search.
