Growing Our Own: Enough Calories for a Year: Spring 2012 Photographs: Pisum Sativum (Common Pea)

Dear Reader
The Suburban Farmer has not been very active on the blog this year. The Farmer, the New Farmer and others have been farming but what should we say in the blog. This year The Farmer is not going to weigh all the food we grow. For the last 2 years we have been measuring all the crops and have meet our goals of raising more than 225 KG each year which is enough to support the calories needs for one adult for the year.

Things though have been busy with the new garden down at the church. Today was the second time this month we have been able to harvest from the raised beds. Today there were 6 shopping bags of beets, beet greens, lettuce, spinach, mustard greens, turnip greens and radishes. There was a wicker basket that was presented as an offering and along with the bread, wine; this food was presented and placed on the alter during the mass. At the conclusions of worship 6 different people took food away. Beaming faces.

So instead of weighing food the Suburban Farmer plans to have photos of the wonderful plants that grow in the garden.

The Farmer was moved to do this when he walked outside and find that one of the poppies, Asiatic Poppy, had suddenly bloomed.

Today the Farmer shares the sugar snap peas. These peas had to be planted in February and have been growing and now are nearly 5 feet tall.

This plant is one of amazing delicacy. It needs a strong netting as a trellis to stand up. Constantly the leaves are bending and folding so that peeping out will be the flower. A white flower that usually means that it will be a night time visitor that will pollinate this plant.