Hi all,
I just read this, and thought, since most of us will no doubt be planting
peas soon (ok I'm an optimist), this might be timely.
It's an excerpt from Des Kennedy's latest book, _An Ecology of
Enchantment_, a collection of 52 essays (that's right, one per week)
subtitled "A Year in a Country Garden." Some of it is lyrical, some
informative, and some just plain howlingly funny! Here's the bit about pea
staking:
"I've been up in the vegetable patch as well this week, staking peas
and broad beans, neither of which offers quite the challenge of a peony or
a delphinium. I'm just not sure why peas, snow peas especially, while
plainly in need of support, consistently refuse to accept it, like
doddering oldsters insisting, 'Oh, I'm all right; don't worry about me.'
You put in perfectly respectable stakes and several miles of twine; you
hook the young vines onto the twine, guide their little tendrils to it;
you just about hold their hands until they get a grip. Then once your
back's turned, they all let go and flop down on the ground again as though
being deliberately difficult. Or they'll end up clinging to one another in
a hopeless tangle of tendrils. Always in a mad rush this time of year, one
is goaded into saying cruel and hatreful things to them,which is perhaps
why they fail to produce the bouteous crops other growers achieve."
Hope that giggled you!
Diane Ridout, Instructor, ACP.............................................
Kwantlen University College, "Talk
12666-72 Avenue doesn't
Surrey, BC, Canada V3W 2M8 cook rice," they say.
Tel: (604) 599-2964 Voice mail 9837.......................................
Yup, goodun', Diane.
Or your pound mutt who loves to eat peas comes along and pulls them all
(100+ plants!) out of the ground! We're finishing the fence before my
peas start beaing this year!
----------
planting
about pea
> staking:
> "I've been up in the vegetable patch as well this week, staking
peas
> and broad beans, neither of which offers quite the challenge of a
peony or
> a delphinium. I'm just not sure why peas, snow peas especially, while
> plainly in need of support, consistently refuse to accept it, like
> doddering oldsters insisting, 'Oh, I'm all right; don't worry about
me.'
> You put in perfectly respectable stakes and several miles of twine;
you
> hook the young vines onto the twine, guide their little tendrils to
it;
> you just about hold their hands until they get a grip. Then once your
> back's turned, they all let go and flop down on the ground again as
though
> being deliberately difficult. Or they'll end up clinging to one
another in
> a hopeless tangle of tendrils. Always in a mad rush this time of
year, one
> is goaded into saying cruel and hatreful things to them,which is
perhaps
ACP.............................................
> Kwantlen University College, "Talk
> 12666-72 Avenue doesn't
> Surrey, BC, Canada V3W 2M8 cook rice," they
say.
> Tel: (604) 599-2964 Voice mail
9837.......................................
It did. It also reminded me of myself this past summer. WIth being
away from the peas for a week at a time, imagine how unruly they
would get. I'd leave them all firmly attached and well positioned to
attach themselves to the next official support, and come back the
following week to find them everywhere but where I left them and
where they were supposed to go. Pole beans are much more
cooperative. Once sent in the right direction they generally keep
going that way.
sph
---------------
Sandra P. Hoffman
ghidra@igs.net
http://www.flora.org/sandra/
> Sandra P. Hoffman wrote:
Pole beans are much more cooperative. Once sent
Well I did say "generally". One did decide that growing two feet
across the ground and going up the corn was much more interesting
than going up the string it was right beside, and the ones I was
encouraging to go sideways rather than up were a bit less
cooperative as well. But on the whole much better behaved than
peas.
sph
---------------
Sandra P. Hoffman
ghidra@igs.net
http://www.flora.org/sandra/
Sandra P. Hoffman wrote:
Hmmm--I must have done something to irritate a select few of my
pole beans...
Valerie Hillgren
Mainz, Germany
hillgren@mpch-mainz.mpg.de
> Sandra P. Hoffman wrote:
(snip)
Perhaps by saying unkind things to them? ;-) I sometimes wish I could
think
of something unkind to say to *bush* beans to make them slow down a bit...
Diane Ridout, Instructor, ACP.............................................
Kwantlen University College, "Talk
12666-72 Avenue doesn't
Surrey, BC, Canada V3W 2M8 cook rice," they say.
Tel: (604) 599-2964 Voice mail 9837.......................................
It was only doing what the native Americans taught it to do. 8 )
Amy of Marvelous Gardens
> One did decide that growing two feet across the ground and going up the
> corn was much more interesting than going up the string it was right
beside,
---------------
Sandra P. Hoffman
ghidra@igs.net
http://www.flora.org/sandra/
Date: Saturday, January 30, 1999 9:07 PM
Subject: Staking peas - funny bits from _An Ecology of
Enchantment_
snip
> You put in perfectly respectable stakes and several miles of
twine; you
> hook the young vines onto the twine, guide their little tendrils
to it;
> you just about hold their hands until they get a grip. Then once
your
> back's turned, they all let go and flop down on the ground again
as though
> being deliberately difficult. Or they'll end up clinging to one
another in
> a hopeless tangle of tendrils. Always in a mad rush this time of
year, one
> is goaded into saying cruel and hatreful things to them,which is
perhaps
> why they fail to produce the bouteous crops other growers
achieve."
> Hope that giggled you!
> Diane Ridout, Instructor,
ACP.............................................
I had another one of those wonderful ideas this year with my pea
trellis's. Figured I'd make a couple of 'A' frames with a
electrical conduit between as the basis for my pea planting.
____________
looked a bit like A A with string strung
between the uprights. That way I could space out the plants but
by planting on both sides I'd save lots of horizontal space.
Now you'd figure the peas on at least one side would have grown
into the trellis. Even with me weaving the plants between the
strings they still flopped out.
So much for man over nature.
Gil
