Peas to Green Beans

One of my favorite transitions of the year is from growing sugar snap peas, into green beans. I am picking the last of my snap peas this weekend. Once I have picked, and refertilized the soil, I will be ready for green beans.

I usually grow a Blue Lake Sytle Green Bean here in the Ozarks. It does well in wet or dry conditions. And the harvest is 60-70 days, so I can usually get a couple of rounds in each year.

Nitrogen is a big deal here. Peas and green beans both love it. So, I make sure I use a good fertilizer with plenty of nitrogen. The leafy plants love the stuff.

Green beans are one of the easiest plants to grow also. So give them a try. You can check out my video of green beans on this blog for more info.

Snap Peas

Well, I have not had much time to blog lately, but I promise to make up for it. The combination of cool weather, no frost, and lots of rain brought in a very nice crop of snap peas this year. My peas are now taller than my fencing that holds them.

They started putting on blossoms around 7 days ago. That is a significant sign for me, because that usually starts the beginning of the peas. Sure enough, the rule of thumb has proven true this year. I found my first pealets of the season. That's a good think too, because we jumped to around 86 degrees in the Ozarks the last couple of days, and that will not make my peas happy.

The snap pea is part of my Celtic Ozark Spring garden. They don't mind a little cold weather or snow, but frost is not good. I planted them around St. Patrick's Day, and we got our last day of frost around April 4th. Had to cover them once.

They make a great salad addition, or you can even eat them raw from the garden. I also like to make a stir fry out of them. They are a nitrogen lover, and like full sun and plenty of water. In our case, we had a fair bit of snow last winter, so that really helped the natural nitrogen level.

Can' wait to pick them.
Ray Province
The Celtic Ozark Garden

Protecting the Garden from Frost

Last night saw frost coming to the Celtic Ozark Garden. So, protecting the garden from frost was my top priority last night. We hit 35 degrees. That is certainly not freezing, for which I am grateful. However, it is cold enough to create frost in low lying areas (like gardens.) The temperature is not as critical as the frost setting in on the plants.

My plan includes watering, covering, and moving plants from the garden. I like to water the garden in the late afternoon, so the water helps to protect the plants. That was a good option yesterday, because it was nice and cool, and sunny. That gave leaves time to be dry, but roots wet.

Then, i covered everything vulnerable with a sheet. I keep old sheets around for just such an emergency (as Foghorn Leghorn used to say). The sheets are light enough to not damage the plants, but strong enough to keep the frost from settling on my plants, and burning them. Today, I will remove the sheets, so the plants can get sun again. Unfortunately, I will cover them again tonight, as we have one more night of cold air coming to the Ozarks.

Finally, I move everything in doors that is still in pots. I have many seedlings in small containers, that have been taking advantage of the warm weather we have had for two weeks. Those little squashes, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. get to sleep in the house.

With a little planning, you can protect your spring garden, and also your budding summer garden to be. The average last frost date in Missouri is around April 15th. WE have recorded frost dates to the end of the month in history. This time of year, you just have to pay attention to the temperature and weather.

We'll talk again soon,

Ray Province
Celtic Ozark Garden