The Pea report

This week at Schoolhouse Farms we have been patiently waiting for the sugar snap peas to plump up for harvest. We planted them it seems months ago and they just sat and sat. They are not fans of super dry or hot so they protested the heat of May with a stop work strike. This recent change in temperature and moisture kicked them back into gear. Sweet peas are awesome raw, blanched or sauteed! The pod and peas are entirely edible. During our laborious harvest we have all we can do to keep the farmers in training from devouring the crop before we get it to market.

The crop of greens is doing well with a continuous supply of heirloom cutting lettuce, mustard's, kale and soon Swiss chard. The new crop of Savoy spinach is a couple weeks away and the demand high. Savoy spinach did very well but other varieties bolted in the heat and left a hole in the schedule. The arugula crop went to seed before it was ready for market due to heat and drought so it became the green manure for replanting another. We have reseeded Pak Choy, Japanese red mustard, the heirloom lettuce mix and with a little nurture from Mother Nature should be ready for market again in a few weeks.

Sunflowers are in and popping up, parsnips did not like the dry so we will try again same story with the carrots. Some of the Chinese cabbage is starting to bolt due to the strange conditions including the cold weather. Too hot too cold to dry too wet, we just seem a little out of climate balance. The rows of Heirloom tomatoes plants are getting bigger and stronger our pole beans are climbing the strings and the bush beans are thriving. A few more weeks and we should be experiencing the full effects of bean fever. We will keep you posted!