2008 / A happy start / First sowing

We are approaching end February, the daily temperature is above 10C already for a few days, the sun is shining, my sandy soil is dry and warm, and everything looks right! The temptation to sow is too strong to resist. I went out and sowed 2 varieties of peas in my raised beds (raised bed 2 + raised bed A): The Sugar peas ‘Norli’: is a dwarf pea grown for sweet and crispy sugar peas. This variety was proven to be a star performer last year, very productive, producing good quality fruits throughout the spring. The other variety was seeds brought back from my trip to Kunming last December. This variety of seeds is developed specially for producing pea shouts. They should produce fatty tender pea shouts ready for pick in a few weeks time. The seeds were soaked in warm water overnight. The raised beds had been well prepared in the past few weeks with lime, self-made compost and dried cow + chicken manure added. I sowed the peas 2 cm deep in shallow trenches. After sowing, I’ve placed 2 long lines of ribbons across my raised beds as a kind of scarecrow. This is a trick I learned from a neighbour of mine to expel birds once the seeds begin to germinate.

After more than a week of dry weather, it rained last night, the night right after my sowing! A sign of happy start for 2008!