A couple of years ago Jon gave me a set of really beautiful glass cloches for my birthday. I usually use them indoors for decoration because they are so pretty and delicate. But this past weekend I noticed that my cabbage seedlings looked down right chilly. So I decided that I’d do a little experiment. I’ve placed cloches over two savory cabbage seedlings and I’ve left two others exposed to the elements. I’m curious to see how much better the plants under cover do. In the meantime, it will be fun to admire the cloches. They definitely add a veneer of elegance to my simple garden!

My garden is a off to a bit of a slow start this spring. I’m blaming the weather. It’s nearly May and the soil thermometer still registers below 50 degrees, but signs of life are beginning to appear. My ‘Watermelon’ and ‘Easter Egg II’ radishes germinated. As did the ‘Bordeaux’ spinach and my ‘Golden Ball’ turnips. I’m actually quite pleased the turnips turned up.

I accidentally left their seed packet outside in the rain for over a week. When I peeled apart the soggy packet, the seeds inside were beginning to sprout. I decided to try and plant them, which proved difficult because the wet seeds stuck together. I felt that the situation was dubious at best, but the seeds have sprouted, albeit it in very tight clumps!  I’ve also got ‘Dakota’ and ‘Super Sugar Snap’ peas, mustard greens, ‘Chioggia’ beets, ‘Chantenay’ carrots, ‘Santo’ cilantro, ‘Walla Walla’ and ‘Red Long of Tropea’ onions, ‘Tom Thumb’, ‘Forellenschluss’, ‘Red Sails’ and a green romaine lettuce going, as well as some a spicy baby greens mix.

I’m curious what you all are planting and what is up in your gardens, so do tell. Happy Spring!

The idea that peas should be planted on St. Patrick’s Day is just not a piece of advice I follow. The soil in my garden is always very chilly and very wet on March 16th—conditions that encourage peas to rot, not germinate. Instead of relying on a calendar date for planting peas, I wait until my soil thermometer reads between 48 and 50 degrees F and I pre-sprout my peas indoors. Pre-sprouting really reduces the chance that the peas will rot in cool, damp soil because the seed already has a growing root that is taking up water. I find that if I pre-sprout the seeds, which just takes a couple of days, my peas end up germinating about 10 days faster than ones directly sown in the garden. To pre-sprout the peas get a double layer of paper towels wet. Arrange the peas in a single layer on one half of the paper towel.

Then, fold the other half of the paper towel over the peas so they are encased within the wet paper towel.

The peas tend to be very roly poly, so I usually fold the edges of the towel over each other to make a kind of sealed envelope.

Slide the peas into a resealable plastic bag and zip the bag 3/4 of the way shut. Place the bag in a warm spot (I usually leave mine in the kitchen). Every day, slide the peas out of the bag and take a peek at them. Also, make sure that the paper towel stays quite moist.

Don’t forget to label each bag with the variety of pea you are growing. This year I’m growing two types: ‘Dakota’ English pea and ‘Super Sugar Snap’. ‘Dakota’ only gets about two feet tall, so I planted it in my new vintage barrel container. ‘Super Sugar Snap’ grows over six feet tall, so I have that variety planted around a large rusted steel obelisk.

As soon as you notice little roots emerging from the seeds, it is time to plant them. The roots pop out surprisingly quickly, usually within 3 to 4 days.

I plant my peas about an inch apart. I then thin out every other seedling when they are about 4 inches tall and eat the pea greens. If I’m planting peas in a row, I dig a 1-inch deep furrow and plant the peas in the bottom of the furrow. When I’m planting them around the bottom of a trellis I make individual holes (you can use a piece of bamboo or your finger) that are about an inch deep and an inch apart. Usually I also inoculate my peas with rhizobia bacteria, but I forgot to buy some when I purchased my pea seeds. So this year my peas went un-incolutaed, which is fine. I’ll just get slightly lower yields.

Plant the peas roots side down in the hole or furrow. Be careful with the seeds, because the little roots snap off easily. Backfill the hole or furrow with soil and then water the peas in well. I then usually wait to water again until I see the peas or emerge. In drier climates only water the peas between planting and germination if the soil dries down to the bottom of your second knuckle before the seeds germinate (you don’t want to overwater and rot the seeds).

The peas should poke up out of the soil within two weeks. Birds find pea seeds and seedlings irresistible, so you may want to consider covering the bed with bird netting after you sow to prevent them from gobbling up your carefully planted seeds.

My new veggie garden sits up on a small terrace just above our patio. The space right below is flat, level and gets lots of sun—the perfect spot for a small container garden. I decided that old wooden crates would be the ideal size for growing greens and their weathered look would blend in with the mossy terrace wall. I started scanning Craigslist and antique stores for crates, but all of the ones I found were $30 or more per crate, which was way more than I wanted to spend.

Then last Friday I stopped by an estate sale. I almost fainted with happiness when I stepped into the backyard and spotted, amidst a massive jumble of decrepit fishing equipment, a stack of wooden crates and a totally cool old barrel. I snagged six crates and the barrel for $35.00. Score!

The barrel formerly held biscuit flour and there is no sign that it ever contained funky chemicals or anything else. I’m going to plant it with ‘Dakota’ shelling peas, which get about two feet tall and I’m going to plant an old galvanized mop bucket that I found last fall at an estate sale with flowers.

The crates are pretty much ready to plant with lettuces, arugula, and spinach. I just need to line their bottoms so soil doesn’t sneak out through the slats.

Planting up my little container salad garden is my big project for the weekend, in between speaking engagements. On Saturday, I’ll be talking about salad gardening at Molbak’s Nursery in Woodinville, Washington at noon. And on Sunday, I’ll be talking about integrating ornamentals and edibles at Joy Creek Nursery in Scappoose, Oregon at 1:00. Hope to see you there!