Peas, Peas, and More Peas

We planted peas everywhere this year....






...here they are poking up between our 2-yr. old orange trees....




...and here they are along the ‘dog’ fence in front of broccoli and soon-to-be-planted shallots. I need to do a bit of research on how far away peas need to be from shallots. They’re not good companions but I’m not sure why or at what distance they will start bickering….I’ll let you know :)

More info on Peas, specifically geared toward CA but applicable to pretty much any warm winter climates, can be found on the UC extension web site. Our Central Valley is just much too hot for summer plantings and tho it will get below freezing in the winter, it’s not consistent and when it snows here, we cancel school and write about it in the newspaper :)

The following is an excerpt on weather conditions for growing peas ——

Edible pod peas require consistently cool growing conditions and do not produce well in hotter areas. Peas are cool-season vegetables with optimum growing temperatures between 55′ and 65′ F (13′-18′ C) in colder growing areas where peas are grown year-round, growth and development are considerably slower during winter months. Flowering and pod set are sometimes interrupteded by frosts, but plants recover and produce normally if frosts are brief.

Plants may tolerate some high temperatures during vegetative growth, but flowering is initiated when plants are smaller. Pod and seed development is so rapid that quality and yield are reduced by high temperatures. High temperatures in desert and inland growing areas severely restrict the growing season. In milder areas, yields and quality may be adversely affected for short periods by unusual warm weather.