Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Where potatoes and peas are planted out

So the spring that we've been waiting for through a cold and frosty March and a chilly and wet April has finally arrived. My Apache potatoes were planted out a week ago – over a month past their planned planting date. The extra time chitting indoors did mean that the shoots were particularly well developed by the time they went in the ground. Apache potatoes are maincrop types so should be ready for harvest 18–20 weeks after planting. That will give me an August harvest for these and they should be good for storing for a while as well.






I've been taking advantage of the nicer weather this last week by hardening off my peas that were germinated in pots in the greenhouse. I'm growing Kelevedon Wonder and Meteor peas this year, both of which are early varieties. I have, however, already lost the labels off a couple of the pots so the peas are being planted out together. I wonder if I'll see any difference in the plants or flowers as they develop? My pea harvest in the early part of 2012 was fantastic – I froze lots of bags and used them in risottos over the winter. I'm really hopeful they do well for me again this year.

8 comments:

  1. Good luck with your potatoes, I forgot to plant out my main crops. They were planted yesterday though my early varieties are coming through nicely.

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    1. Well, they're already peeking through at the surface so seem to be happy enough. I only really have room for one lot of potatoes in the plot - this is my first time with maincrops.

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  2. Our chits weren't very well developed at all this year - we still have some to plant and last year's peas were rubbish so we are hoping for better things this years

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    1. Last year my peas were started early and cropped well until June/early July. Then they all succumbed to mildew and I had to pull them all up. So far I've had very good germination and I'll carry on sowing more in pots as a back up. I'm still expecting the slugs to eat them before long...

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  3. I've still got potatoes to go in, that'll hopefully get done soon. Your peas look lovely and healthy, I'm going to sow some seed direct as the ones I started off in pots have come to nothing, I was rather early though.

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  4. Maybe you'll have better luck with pea germination now that the weather has warmed. It's amazing what a difference a little bit of heat makes - even to seeds that usually germinate at lower temps.

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  5. My chitters are still waiting to go out ... oh dear! No time for gardening though as have big college assignment to hand in and something has to give! Really glad of lighter evenings, hopefully can get going again after the weekend. (And, no, I shouldn't be reading blogs - I should be working!!)

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    1. I can empathise Caro - my gardening and blogging takes a bit of a hit when college demands hove into view.

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