Spring peas and greens

With a fresh coating of snow on the ground, and St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, I am starting to think about planting my spring garden.

I plant my peas, greens, and radish from seed They come up relatively quickly and seem to like the cooler growing season at this time of year.

I begin with snow peas which I start around St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. Last year I think I started the following week. Many people prefer sugar snap peas, which work just as well. Starting now you should have peas in June. I don’t worry about snow at this time of year as my plants have survived late snow falls. And if all else fails you can replant.

I also don’t worry about watering until the plants are well up. We get plenty of rain at this time of year!

For me, the most important thing is to make sure the soil is well composted. I use the community garden compost and my own backyard and kitchen compost, I also use a little wood ash or lime to sweeten the soil and a little bone meal. I prefer to add the compost in the fall but will turn it in anytime before planting.

I begin my greens, again from seed, around Patriots’ Day which is April 18 this year. In addition to compost I work a little blood meal into the soil before planting. I think there is a lot of flexibility in terms of start times depending on when you want to harvest. I plant salad greens, mixes of asian greens, arugula and leafing lettuce. I hope to have several cuttings of the salad greens before early June when I pull them and use the space for summer plants, tomatoes, peppers, beans etc. If you start early enough, you can also do successive plantings every couple of weeks.
I also plant spinach around the same time and cut some of it early for salad greens and let some grow out for fuller plants. Often, I will do a second seeding for later, fuller plants.
I start radishes early in April and try to do a couple of successive seedings since they come up so quickly.

Finally, I start bibb heading lettuce from seed in early to mid May in order to have some greens after I’ve pulled the earlier plants. I order my seeds from Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Maine but any brand will work. My greens mixes are called Ovation, and the lettuce mix is Allstar Gourmet.
Hope this helps. For me it’s trial and error, and talking to people (my sister and Jim) who know a lot more than me.

Andy Costello