Today I planted my peas! The first seeds to go into my new garden.

I brought three wheelbarrows full of loam down to one of my new raised beds. I added two 40 lb bags of composted cow manure, turned it, then raked the surface smooth. I planted two packages of 5 foot tall French snow pea seeds. For each, I cleared a 2 inch deep trench about 5-6 inches wide. Since I haven’t planted peas in this soil before, I sprinkled on pea/bean innoculant, scattered the pea seeds, then covered the area. I added some 6 foot tall branches for supports. Our irrigation water isn’t on yet, so the seeds will sprout when they get enough moisture.

We are in the process of applying to the Town Conservation Commission for a permit for this vegetable garden site since it’s near wetlands: a pond and a seasonal brook. It doesn’t seem that there is any problem getting the permit as the garden is all sustainable organic and we are planning work to avoid runoff and mitigate local wildlife habitat issues. But since we do not yet have “go ahead” approval, I am filling and planting one bed at a time. For this first planting, I used a minimum of soil – only 3-4 inches in an 8 inch raised bed. I think approval takes 3 weeks from submission, which will go in next week (hopefully). The submission will include all of the modifications that we plan for the house and yard. One of the modifications to the hose is the addition of a vegetable storage/root cellar that I look forward to filling up with home-grown vegetables.