No till peas... my father "the inventor" tried this with
field peas. I though he was kidding me but low and behold before long,
I was out there picking peas. He planted something like a Dixie Lee,
the ones I'm doing are purple hull. Dad would also plant the dry Camellia
field peas you buy at the grocery, he loved those! Yes he actually
planted the ones from the store and they came up.
If you've got a nice sunny spot in your yard, some decent ground,
a common lawn grass that doesn't get too tall (St. Augustine is one
example) and you want to make
a fall crop of peas (not beans) it's not too late but you've got to get started
now. Naturally this is for area 9 of the U.S. (southern
region).
Get yourself 4 stakes, some string, pea seeds and fertilizer.
Leave the shovel in the shed. Pass your lawnmower over the section
you want to plant. Use the stakes and string to mark off
your row. The reason it's marked off is so you don't run over it by
mistake with the mower. Sprinkle the peas and a little fertilizer in the row (1 lb
of peas per 30' row). Walk
on the peas to make them fall below the grass towards the soil.
Water well, then water every day late in the evening (unless it
rains). You've got to keep the ground moist so they can take root.
After about five days you can pull one of the end stakes up and
pass your lawn mower over the row (the peas won't be coming up yet).
Try not to walk over the row. Place the stake back in place. This is
the last time for the lawn mower. In about 10 to 14 days you'll be
surprised!
Not only do you not have to till you can just run over the dead
plants and the end of the season using a mulching attachment and
leave the cut plants right there... bingo...fertilizer for next
year's crop!
All I have here is one row, naturally you can do more if space
allows.
Here's the 1st picture... you can plainly see the pea plants...
we'll follow this through the growing season.
These are planted in a lot that has wild grasses in it. Hopefully the peas will outrun the grass.
If you have a regular lawn there should be no problem.
This technique works
especially well in the fall because the grass growth starts to slow in
late September.
I'll be pulling the stakes up pretty soon since I can see where the
peas are and won't run over them with the lawn mower.
Planted August 10th.
10/4/03
