Go together like Peas and Carrots

I always thought of this metaphor in a culinary sense. After doing a little reading about companion planting, I had one of those "Ah ha!" moments. On the companion planting chart, first on the list as compatible to peas...carrots. Maybe this is how the ol' phrase got started. Old gardening wisdom of "who plays nicely together and who doesn't". Kinda like garden astrology, only on a physiological level.

So-we did get those pesky, non-inoculated peas planted. A friend who studied at Clemson advised me that if I could not get my hands on the Rhizobia, to take an 8" core sample of soil from an area where legumes had grown before. I am simplifying his instructions- this works in the interest of keeping things short and sweet. We had grown green beans the previous season in a plot in the original garden..the OG. So...hoping this would count, I sent up a horticultural prayer and dug some samples.

I mixed these up in my wheelbarrow (wheelbarrel?). He said to spread this over the top of the planted pea plots. For good measure, I also rolled the soaked peas around in the dirt before I planted them. Farmer Bo double dug our two pea plots to ready the soil as I dug our core samples and inoculated (fingers crossed).

Double digging is when you dig a shovelful of dirt first, then dig another shovelful in the layer below-loosening this sub soil, then loosening and returning the first shovelful of dirt. It's a lot of work, but really helps the roots of your plantings to easily grow. We also incorporated our amendments-composted cow manure-at this time. Once the plots were ready, it was time to plant.

I spaced them close together, so we could make up for any poor germination. I'll thin them when the time comes-pea sprout salad??? With carrots??? Hmmmmm. My seed packet said to plant the peas an inch deep, so I pushed each one in with my thumb-up to the first knuckle. After I got them all in the ground, I top dressed the plots with my "hopefully-inoculated soil". We shall see...48 days for Cascade and 56 for Knight. Still trying to get a gadget countdown on here...so, for anyone wanting to keep track, March 13th for Cascade. We'll keep you posted. 

Rhizobia, rhizobia- where for art thou?

Lesson number one-learned. When you may need a certain bacterial inoculant powder to roll your pea seeds around in before you plant them, better make sure you can get your hands on some first before you go ahead and start soaking them. I am new at pea planting, and have read from my favorite organic gardening bible-Rodale's-that I should treat my seeds with rhizobia before planting, especially if they are going into a spot where no legumes have grown before.

Confidently, yet not 100% enough to drive on over before calling first, I rang up Hyam's. Bust-on order, supplier doesn't have any, don't know when it'll be in. So, called Cordray's here on the island. Nope! But he pointed me in the direction of Wendy in the Lowe's garden center over on James Island. Nix! But she was awfully helpful and steered me over to Possum's (supplier of all types of fertilizers and chemicals, but notably, lots of organic products) or Pete Ambrose, a long time and successful farmer on Wadmalaw Island. Matt at Possum's was out as well, but said he may have some at his house left from last year. When you buy this stuff, it's $7 per bag (packet?) and can treat 50 lbs. So, the average home gardener will only use a fraction. He is going to call me in the morning and let me know if he has any to share. What a guy, huh?! I also called Pete, since I know the family and frequent their produce market and cafe here on John's Island- The Stono Market- great place for lunch, shrimp, produce and cool food items like Carolina Gold rice and local honey, among a host of other things. Pete had used every last bit of his getting his crop planted a couple of weeks back, so had none to share. I then asked the million dollar question: "Do you find that it makes a difference whether you use it or not?" Pete explained to me that he had planted his peas for years without inoculation. Then his seed salesman said "You gotta use it!" and he did. Now, I am planting on ground that has not grown a crop aside from centipede grass in at least 60 years. Pete is growing on land that has birthed crop after crop of many varieties over many years, so his soil truly may not need inoculation. He explained to me that he hasn't noticed a difference between his old method and the new. So...I may be embarking on my first part in a two year study-to inoculate or not??? That may be the question.

So here is the layout of the garden: turf paint is a wonderful thing!

And here is my plan for the spring-early plantings to be done now, and the later rotations when the time is right.

To be planted now:
Peas: Cascadia and Knight
Beets: Golden and Early Wonder
Spinach
Carrots: Rainbow and Atomic Red
Radish: French Breakfast
Collards

When they go into the ground, I am hoping I can grapple some cool little countdown tool for this blog so I can track the maturity times listed on the seed packets. Any of you who are more blog savvy and know how to do something like this, please email me! OK-time to get started. Fingers crossed for my rhizobia romeo.

Getting Started-Harvest 2011 on the Horizon

So here we go! My first blog and I am truly lost. Can't figure out how to customize my background, so hopefully that will change in the near future. It's not that I don't like the birds-I love them and feed the ones in our area everyday. It just doesn't say "victuals"!

My husband and I have been kitchen gardeners ever since we moved to our half acre on Johns Island in July of  1998. The gardening started the next year. I've always enjoyed the kitchen garden concept-growing veggies, fruits, herbs and flowers all in one garden to supply ingredients you need in the kitchen and on the table.

This year, we are having to create a new garden area. Our old plot, which was a sunny spot when we moved here, has now become much more shaded as our oak trees have grown. A tree can grow a lot in 12 years! So, we are lucky to be renting the half acre lot next to us to run our landscaping business. There is a perfect, sunny, south facing plot next to the property line we share. This will make it super convenient to tend to. And when you garden w/out chemicals, there is a ton of tending to do.

So the goal of this blog-other than motivating yours truly to keep up with the garden and not get lazy come August-is to follow the complete journey of a 36'x36' plot of grass to a productive and diverse "victual" garden. Ground breaking begins tomorrow am!

                    Original garden-pic from last year-will still be used this year.