Ahh..the Sweet Peas

This year was my first success with Sweet Peas. I have tried them a number of times, w/no luck.
This time I watered the seeds every day until germination, then cut back on water. Before this year I had even pre-soaked them, knicked them all to no avail. So it appears that I wasn't watering them enough. They grew to a beautiful 5+ feet in the hoop house. They had a large bloom in early summer, and intermittent bloom till late summer. They like cool weather, but we don't get a long periods of cool weather around here, well except now! Starting to clean out the flower shop this week. We placed 3 pallets of all the remaining boxes from tornado storage in there last fall. This forces me to get sorting threw it all. Found a few things I thought were ruined, so not all bad. Won't be long and the flower shop turns into the seedling house for the spring. I'm getting tired just thinking about it all!

Earthway Seed Planter

Below is a photo of the seed plates for the planter. On each plate is listed the type of seeds each plate is for.

Need a helping hand in the garden? If you have a very large garden, the 'Earthway Seeder' may be just the new garden toy for you. You can buy them online for about $85-100. The plates snap into the hopper, then fill with the seeds you need. Be ready to go, as the planter does not have a 'kick stand' so you can't really let go of it once you fill it. If you only have a few seeds in it, you can set it on it's side. I have used one of these for years and they are a real labor saver. They also correctly space the seeds, so less thinning later, less seeds wasted. It has a row marker arm that you can use to mark your next row. Soil should be tilled and raked smooth if big lumps remain. The 'seeder' will plow a tiny furrow, and a chain on the back covers the seed. You still may need to walk the rows when done to see that all got buried. You can also adjust how deep the furrow is. They also can be purchased with a fertilizer hopper that attaches to the side. I have had very few problems using this, a bargain if you plant large areas. The trickiest part is dumping the extra seeds back out of the hopper. I bring a small pail to the field for this. From the hopper to the pail, then back into the bag/package. There are other brands of seeders available, but most others start in the $300 range. I will be bringing this to my vegetable gardening classes for you to take a look.