Starting Early Crops: Peas, Spinach, Lettuce and Carrots.

The garlic started coming up a couple weeks ago and the weather has become mild since then.  It is still getting below freezing at night, but the daytime temps have been in the 60's.  I decided that the time was right for starting peas out in the garden.  Peas are frost tolerant, so they make a good early garden crop.  The night before planting I made sure to soak the peas in water to give them a head start on sprouting. They swelled to three times their size overnight and hopefully will sprout in just a few days.

The next step involved marking off the bed and setting up the trellis.  Peas like something to climb and I have had some good luck planting a row on either side of a trellis.  This year's trellis is made from a scrap of old fencing that was left in the yard from the previous tenants.  I hammered three lengths of 2 ft rebar down the middle of the bed.  I then threaded some left over pvc pipe scraps onto the rebar to act as the frame for the fence.  I wove the fence through the pvc pipe and stretched it as tight as I could to make a sturdy support for my future peas.

On either side of the fencing I then dug a shallow trench and planted the peas every couple inches down the length of the bed.

Since the peas will grow up the trellis, they won't take up much space in the bed, so I decided to plant a few other cold tolerant plants along the outside of the bed.  On one side I planted a row of spinach, and on the other I planted a few varieties of lettuce.  I also tucked about a foot of carrot seeds into the corners of each row.  I chose these plants because they will grow relatively quickly and they won't interfere with the peas.  These plants will also benefit from the shade of the peas when the weather gets a little warmer, hopefully keeping them from bolting too soon.

The temperatures are still getting below freezing most nights, so I wanted to give my newly planted bed a little extra protection and warmth to get it started.  I made what I call a poor man's hoop house to protect them and act like a mini greenhouse for the seeds.  I did this by pounding rebar into the ground to provide the support for the pvc skeleton of the hoop house.  The pvc was cut to eight foot lengths and bent to fit over the rebar.  I have found that the 1/2 inch pvc pipe fits snugly over the rebar and provides a sturdy support for the plastic skin of the hoop house.

The plastic I used is an inexpensive roll of clear painter's plastic tarp.  They come in many sizes and thicknesses.  I use a tarp that is 10 ft by 25ft and 3mm thick.   A ten foot width gives me a foot of clearance on either side of my bed so I can secure the plastic well.  The twenty-five foot length gives me plenty of extra plastic to cover either end of the hoop house.  The edges are simply held in place by rolling a board in the edge of the plastic and weighing it down with rocks that I have in my yard.

This little design acts like a miniature greenhouse and warms the bed and keeps moisture in - two very important things to have when planting seeds.  The plastic also traps some of the heat of the day, keeping the air inside above freezing through the drop in temperatures overnight.  It should be enough protection to give this bed a good head start on the growing season.

I also wanted to note that I am starting these crops just after a new moon.  I have read that planting crops that are harvested above the ground grow better when planted under the waxing of the moon.  It might just be an old wives tale, but I figure it couldn't hurt to take the advice.  If it all goes well, I should be seeing new seedlings in just a matter of days.