Time to Plant:  Potatoes and Peas

Monday, March 28, 2011

St. Patrick’s Day is the unofficial first day of the year when you should start to think about planting those really early crops like potatoes and peas.  So if your soil can be worked, get to digging!  Potatoes should be planted 3 inches deep, 1 foot apart.  When they have grown to about 1 foot high, cover them with a mound of soil to increase your harvest.  Potatoes are actually stem tissue (not root tissue as they are commonly mistaken for), so the more of the stem that is underground, the better!  They can be harvested about two months after planting, or one month after the first emergence of flowers.  Peas can be pushed into the ground about a half inch to an inch deep, and remember to build them a trellis!