My name is Robin and I have a pet peeve. Using the USDA hardiness zones to decide when, what, how and where to plant anything in the summer garden drives me up a wall. Hardiness zones have nothing to do with what you can grow in the summer. There’s a tab at the top of the blog that explains the zones, btw. Rather than explain the zones to someone for the gazillionth time I gave in. I’m joining the Zone 5 club. Phew. It feels good to be rid of that. I meant to plant my peas on St. Patrick’s Day. According to many sources that is the day you plant peas in zone 5. It was too windy and cruddy out to plant peas in my already crappy mood. So I didn’t do. My peas probably won’t grow now. I tried, really, I did. Oh frig, the dog is standing on the peas. BRB.
If you haven’t yet figured out that this is not serious – this is not serious. There’s a link at the bottom with useful information.
Ok, I’m back. I had to yell at Sebastian and get him off the peas. Here’s how you plant peas in zone 5 in my part of Maine on March 19th. First, prepare the ground. It’s late March. The snow is dirty. I figure the dirt on the snow counts for something.
This isn’t going as well as I expected. It turns out that the snow on the dirt isn’t enough. I need more. How did this happen? It’s ZONE 5!! (Technically, I think I’m still in 4 but the map says 5 now.) I know what to do. I’ll get rid of the snow! I have a little hand held torch that I use for burning holes in IRT. That’ll do the trick.
hmmmmm…….. not my best idea today. Do you know how long it takes to torch 2′ of snow? Me either, but I bet it’s a long time. As my friend Pat says, when you can’t do your best do your second best.
So I turned over the snow best I could, made rows and planted the peas. Excuse the spacing, my hands were cold by the time I got to this point. I tried to space them well but I was shivering so much I couldn’t do it. The Earthway Seeder wouldn’t go through the snow so I had to put that back in the rabbitry til spring. Maybe I can plant beans and corn with it. When do you plant those in zone 5? I hope it’s AFTER the *&*%$#!!!! snow melts. So anyway, plant the seeds 1/2″ deep and cover them over. I suggest using gloves when you cover them. I’m typing with my nose because my frost bite hasn’t healed yet.
Don’t forget to mark the rows. It’s helpful to put the variety of seed you planted, the date you planted and how many days to maturity on the row marker. Since I couldn’t write thanks to frost bite I just stuck a trowel in the snow. It’s one of the ones I buy for kids who come to help me plant. I can look back here in June when it’s time to pick peas and know that I planted Coral Shell Peas on March 19 and they take 53 days to mature. That’s after they get their first true leaves, btw, not 53 days from today. So there you have it, how to plant peas in zone 5 two days after St. Patrick’s Day. It’s 36*, the snow is 2′ deep and we have sleet, snow and freezing rain moving in tonight and staying through tomorrow. Good thing I got ‘em in today, tomorrow’s gonna be a bad day for planting!
Oh…I wonder what this means? The package the seeds came in says, “sow in rows 3 ft apart as soon as the ground can be worked.” I think it’s trick directions. It says something about the ground, not St. Patrick’s Day. HA! I’m not falling for that! Never let anyone confuse you with facts. Now that I’ve had my fun you should go to this post to find out how to really plant peas.
Filed under: Daily Farm Life, Farm, Garden, Growing Vegetables, agriculture | Tagged: frost dates zone 5, humor, planting peas St Patrick's day, planting peas zone 5
I got quite a chuckle out of that and I am known as one for rushing the season… but that takes the cake!
I hope you will follow up and let us know when the DO have their first set of true leaves and when harvest comes. So I’ll have an idea what to expect next year when I am able to plant.
lol, so THATS how you plant peas on st. patricks day in zone 5
I had a good chuckle too.
I too love the sweeping statements that get made. My weather is rarely what’s forecast, mainly because the 2 nearest cities where the weather stations are situated are either on the coast or in a wide river valley that goes to the coast.
On a serious note though, would putting down a strip of black plastic help melt the snow or are you still getting snowfall?
I didn’t get a chance to read this yesterday. Now that’s what I call true Snow Peas!
Boy, am I worried about you!
Spring better come quick. I’ve spent the last week in a dark room, curled up silently sobbing, and rocking. I only come out for food, then crawl back all the time crying. My god the sun hurts my eyes, well when we have sun…
I’m so sorry that you still have snow. I moved away from Missouri to Zone 8b in Texas nearly 20 years ago. I can’t imagine EVER living where there is winter again. I remember in February feeling like I was going to go mad if it didn’t stop snowing and warm up a bit.
The Zone thing makes my mind twirl. I guess it’s just a vague suggestion. What I want are plants to be marked for their heat tolerance also. What requires “full sun” in the midwest usually will curl up and die at my house.
Thanks for the good laugh.
Sending warm thoughts and some southern winds your way.
And you didn’t try to plant the taters as well (another thing to do on St Paddy’s day according to many misguided gardeners, well except those in the deep south)?
We are in the grips of spring now (and have been for 4 whole days!!!) i believe we had a 3′ drift over top of the pea area on Mar 17th so didn’t even bother. Didn’t even think to get the flamer out to melt the snow. Now that’s thinkin’!
Thanks for the laugh Robin.
Kirk, if you can stand the sun, if it’s out,which it isn’t ere, but if you can stand the sun, c’mon over. We’ll go to Caribou and jump to our deaths from the snowbanks caused by 15′ of snow. They broke the record yesterday. There’s still 4′ on the ground up there.
It is still snowing here. We had an ice storm yesterday. Ice is holding my signal hostage on the tower. 28.8 dial up sucks, especially when the very old phone line drops the connection. Thanks Verizon! I’ll send you a half a check. It’ll cover the half of my phone line that kind of works.
Robin, I feel for you! All that snow makes it tough to plant peas, but I loved your tongue-firmly-in-cheek story. I hope you get sunshine soon. Perhaps now is not a good time to mention our sunshine, and that I have the screens open letting in some fresh air… Keep chanting the mantra, “Spring will come, spring will come!” At least you have some lovely green in the hoophouse/greenhouses!
My Precious!
Robs, I hate to tell you , but that’s not what they mean by “Snow Peas”
Do you know what smudge pots are? They use them in vineyards to protect grapes from killing frost. Anyway.. back in the 60’s these little iron pots that burned slowly, but hot would dot the new road surfaces that had been laid to keep the concrete warmer in cold springs to cure…I wonder if those would work. Same concept.
We used to be zone 5b in central Kansas…now we are a 6! Geeeesh…
Oh thank you! My daughter forwarded your post from your blog, knowing where I am in Zone 5 living in mid-Michigan. My husband just died in January and this has been the longest winter in my memory since we moved up here in 1990, and you made me laugh out loud ’til I cried–but a good cry!
We’ve had two days of barely above freezing here, and I think I can see the outlines of my 10″ raised bed boxes! Hallelujah, and thanks again.
[...] This is a must read for everyone wanting the scoop on Planting Peas in Zone 5. [...]
I don’t know beans about gardening, but I nearly fell off my chair laughing reading your post thanks to starwalker supplying this link…Absolutely delightful to find you here MW. … BoundtofindME (Lili)
This was the funniest gardening article I’ve ever read. I also live in Zone 5! Your article made me laugh so hard I cried – and almost woke up my kids!!!!
Thanks for helping me to put all of these gardening rules into perspective.
Ohhh, I loved it! I remember all the snow last year! And I love the “snow peas” comment!
At first I thought this article was serious until the dog was standing on the peas. Course the line about it not being serious popped up next and I laughed until my sides hurt the rest of the way!
I, myself, don’t follow the zones except as a general outline of the hardiness of plants and don’t really pay attention to when to plant.
I keep getting told that Morning Glories aren’t perennial up here (in Zone 5) but I want them to tell that to my flowers! Every year I have to thin them out and pull any that spread (and they do!).
Any way thanks for the story it was great! I hope to read another soon.
By the way, It’s St. Patrick’s day tommorow and I’m going to be planting peas… go figure. LOL.
Aloha, and Mahalo for your HILARIOUS article on planting peas! I laughed out loud reading it. I came across your article while doing research for a pre-school picture book about growing peas.
I’m in USDA hardiness Zone 11 (Hawaii, Mexico), but don’t go thinking we can grow whatever we want, whenever we want! Mainland vegetables seem to be the hardest things to coax out of the ground.
Good luck with your peas! I know you’ll be able to find them soon – just look for your trowel!
Aloha,
Tricia Saiki,
Author, Mango Tree Books Hawaii