Green Peas, Irrigation, Tomato Plants and the Chicken Tractor

So much to talk about today!

Green Peas
Here they are, the first green peas of 2013.  On May 30th, no less:

In previous posts I've talked about our peas & oats experiment.  I'm going to say that it's a qualified success, since the highs have been upper 80s-low 90s for the last week and the peas are still blooming and setting pods.

Yes, that's all the peas I got today.  They're the Green Arrow variety and they're sooooo sweet. I plopped down right there in the garden and shelled 'em.  We ate them all, raw, right out of the basket.  

Me: (holding out a handful of green peas, grinning.)
Dad:  What are they?
Me:  Green peas. (??)
Dad:  What?  Peas?  What kind?
Me:  GREEN peas.  You know, peas - like you get in a can.
Dad:  Where'd they come from?
Me:  (???)  The garden - we finally got some.
Dad: (takes the peas) What do you want me to do with them??
Me:  Um, eat them?  We did.
Dad:  (Eats the peas, then says with great surprise)  Oh!  Those are delicious!  And you grew them?
Me:  Yep!
Dad:  Huh.

I can't wait for more peas, and I don't think any of them will make it to market.

Irrigation
This has been a huge problem.  We bought special commercial-grade soaker hoses over the last 2 years, enough to cover the garden (we think).  But getting water to the hoses has been the problem.  The line that services that area is ancient, and it seemed every time we turned it on it sprang a leak somewhere.

This year the line was hit with the tiller, because the "as-built" Dad carries around in his head was, well, wrong.  Can you say "Class 5 rapids" girls and boys?  Sheesh!

Over the last couple of days the guys got it fixed, though.  My brother, may he rest in peace, stole that column from somewhere.  Knowing him it was most likely an old forgotten graveyard.  (He was weird.  He was a Lancaster.)  It makes an interesting marker for the water line so nobody (Dad) runs over it with a tractor or something.  The John Deere yellow flame on top should help, as should the chunk of oak tree, the brake drum and the stepping stone cover.

Now we have to run the hoses but there's no rush.  It rained buckets yesterday with more coming today.

And we managed to get this built (apparently) without Dad's knowledge.  Not sure how, though - he keeps a sharp eye on us.  He may have looked it over and decided not to say anything about it but that wouldn't be typical.  Anyway, it's where and how we need it so hopefully he won't be too upset with the way we did things.

Tomatoes in the Ground!!!!
THE FIRST 20 TOMATO PLANTS ARE IN THE GROUND!!!  I felt like shouting that because it has been an uphill struggle to get started on them.  It seems like things just piled up on us, priority-wise, and we've been scrambling.  20 down, 80 to go:

The wire cages are hard to see against the background, sorry - but there are two rows of ten.  This closeup shows the mud we get after a good hard rain - if I stepped in there, I'd sink literally to my knees.

Right now the poor tomatoes awaiting planting are sitting in my front yard, lined up all across the house.  Dad's dog, Sambeaux (don't ask) has his special favorites for peeing on but fortunately I have a bunch of each variety so losing three plants isn't a problem.

In fact, I have a bunch of extra plants so I sold some to the ladies at my doctor's office.  Our first garden income of the year! 

The Chicken Tractor
I was right.  Assembling the tractor was definitely easy.  But putting wire on it sure isn't.

Dad:  Whatcha building?  A dog pen?
Me:  Nope.  It's a chicken tractor.
Dad:  A what?
Me:  A Chicken Tractor.
Dad:  (grinning) Chickens can't drive!
Me:  We haven't put the wheels on it yet.  Then they'll be able to move around.
Dad:  ??
Me:  Just kidding.  We move it around for them.
Dad:  (mutters) a chicken tractor.  (louder) Huh.

We found that stitching the wire together with zip ties is a lot harder than it looks.  And the project called for something like 120 of them; it's gonna be more like 420.  AND the idiots who put together the plan said 4" ties were required.  Nope.  6", minimum.  Oh well, it'll be done by the end of next week.

It has to be.  The birds are fledging out and getting big!

Day 1:

Day 7:

Day 17 (today):

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We still have to plant corn, melons, peppers, spaghetti squash and pumpkins.  And a couple of exotic soup beans.  We needed the rain, but didn't need it if you know what I mean.

This week is supposed to be sunny, so more planting is ahead.  We really need to hire some help!