Pea Planting Day

Pea Planting Day is a special anniversary for us. 

W surprised me with a bottle of quince liquor today.

February 22 is listed on my planting calendar as the first day to plant peas in the Willamette Valley; it also happens that this is the day W and I got engaged to each other, 43 years ago!

Peas are traditionally the first vegetable sown outside in the spring because they will germinate and grow in very cool soil. We plant peas today to ceremonially kick off the start of the planting season, and also to remind ourselves of the beginnings of our relationship; the day we decided to be together forever.

Agenda Today:
1. Prepare to plant
2. Pea planting ceremony
3. Permaculture pea tips

1. Prepare to plant:

Since I can't predict the weather, I always turn the pea bed on a clear day some time in advance of today, to be ready. As I turn the soil in the pea bed, I remember that plowing is a sacred act of connection to the Earth Spirit, and to my farmer ancestors back in time.

2. Pea Planting Ceremony:
Planting is such a basic act of life, and we will plant maybe a hundred seeds this year. Today we plant peas with attention, and we plant together. We plant peas as an offering to the earth, and an offering to our relationship. 

We also drink a little wine (quince liquor this year), and spill some on the ground, to bless the soil.

Permelia and Madeline check out our work
(safely behind duck wire).

3. Permaculture pea tips:

I've been learning about permaculture this spring, so here are a few tips to make peas efficient and use the whole plant:

• First of all, I will plant in succession, every 3 weeks, so I get a harvest over a longer period (starting now and ending mid-April).
• When harvest starts, I'll pick every other day and freeze any I don't eat: Peas are easy- just bag them and put them in the freezer as soon after picking as possible. There is no need to blanch.
• When the first plants begin to slow down, I will snip them at the base (leaving the nitrogen in the ground) and slip in a spinach plant or two.
• I don't like to put pea vines into the compost because they are stringy, so I chop them up with a lopper and spread them around as mulch.
• And finally, I will save a few pea pods that have started to turn brown and just leave the seeds in the pods until fall planting time- early August.