Peas, Shoots and Leaves

Swapping saws for dibbers

Ellie with our newly planted peas

A sudden change in the weather has meant we’ve downed one set of tools for another — drills and saws used for our ‘make and mend’ jobs have been put aside for a while so that we can pick up our gridder (used to mark out the beds in a grid pattern) and dibbers to start planting. March could still turn cold, wet or even snowy, but when the sun shines we’ll be out there getting as much planting done as we can.

So this week we planted our first outdoor salad leaves of the season — lots of lovely rocket, mustard, mizuna and purple frills — whilst in one of our polytunnels, two beds of peas have taken up residence (see picture top with Ellie). On the left of the picture we have a bed of pea shoots, grown mostly for the tender tips that go into our salad bags, but with the added bonus of a crop of delicious mangetout at the end of their shooting stage. On the right we have sugar snap peas, which will be supported by canes and string. It’s a while since we’ve grown the latter, so we’re particularly excited about these.

As you can see from the picture of Martin above, there are plenty more seedlings coming on that will be ready to plant out soon — and many more in Martin’s greenhouse at home. At this time of year we need to keep on our toes, making the most of the drier weather to get crops in the ground, while also fitting in the last of the practical jobs from our ‘make and mend’ list so that we’re as prepared as possible for the growing season ahead. We’re definitely more than a little excited now that the sun has shown its face — we hope you are too!

Martin inspects our seedlings