Bet it will work Larry. I have a couple of places that I've managed to keep covered with living mulch, and the soil has improved greatly.

George

I thought I would post an updated picture of the purple hull peas I planted in a no-till effort. It has been about 6 weeks from planting date and I noticed the first bloom today. Although I think they are a good ways from full bloom they seem to be doing fine. I don't think they ever did receive any blue water (don't look like they need it). So far this seems to be a worth while project and I want to work more toward a no-till garden.

Larry

Thanks for showing us this Larry. I enjoy your garden and great pictures. That looks like its going to be a pretty productive planting.
kim

This is neat! I love follow up pics! The no-till in grass probably would not work with bermuda, but I've been thinking about a winter wheat crop in my bind weed patch. Thinking wheat, then something like buckwheat and then using the area for corn. I can't till there due to buried phone lines. BTW, I tried spraying bindweed with hairspray. No effect.

Thanks for the update. I'm doing buckwheat and hairy vetch, soon, as a living mulch in undeveloped areas. I composted a bunch of pinto beans about a month ago and dropped some around the perimeter of the compost. They're all coming up.

Lookin good mister!

We (me and some friends) have about 2000 feet of peas planted. We are going together to buy an electric sheller.

We are negotiating for a much larger plot of land to grow food for the local food bank. Purplehull peas will be part of that effort because they are easy to can or freeze after shelling.

They are not a complete protein but I believe that can be addressed with fresh eggs in our diet.

Here is a link that might be useful: My plan

Johnny, thanks, sounds like you are busy, and will be busy.

With that many peas you will need some shellers and pickers also. I have a sheller that I can hook up to a cake mixer or a drill motor, but it has plastic gears and I doubt it would hold up to the kind of use you are talking about . It also damages the peas, but no worse than you damage them when you eat them.

Did you get another tractor? I think it will come in handy because I expect that your 9n will be geared too fast for the tiller you are showing.

I want to thank you for posting the no-till link. I am having fun playing with the idea. Although I may not have any peas left to play with tomorrow because we have had 7 deer hanging around behind our house tonight. We have run them off twice but they just come back.

Larry,

We just used that tiller to create a new 1/8 acre garden from scratch.
1. Subsoiled to 16 inches.
2. Plowed to 6 inches.
3. Applied fertilizer to surface.
4. Tilled to 6 inches with 8N and Muratori MX4.
5. Created raised rows with row hipper.
6. Hand planted all veggies. (using sand mixture method)
7. Planted purplehull peas with lister planter.
8. Currently building deer fence. (electric)

Note: The tiller worked well because that soil is very sandy. Plowing first makes all the difference too. Also, I don't like to till soil to powder any way.

A large extended family in Guthrie will enjoy a lot of good food for years!

I will show the progress of my purple hulls that were planted with the no till method.

I planted these peas where I had mulch stacked on 6-17. I harvested the first peas today 8-21. The deer may have set them back a little by eating the tops of the vines. As you can see, the deer still have the attitude," that if it is not behind the electric wire the food still belongs to us".

I am going to call the experiment a success.

Larry

Lookin good.

Larry, these look far better than mine. And no deer. Good job!

Bon, thanks. They did much better than I thought they would. My guess is that the mulch had kept the grass killed for a period of time before and after planting, also the amount of compost use to cover the seeds was just the right amount to feed the plants without too much nitrogen. I think I can also add that this has been almost a perfect year for gardening. I don't ever remember a gardening year that I have used this small amount of water. But I don't know what to do next. Do shred these pea vines and leave them on top of the soil? What about a cover crop? I have never gardened without tilling the soil. I have about a pound of clover seed, and I can buy small amounts of rye grass seed, this may be a good time and place to experiment with that. Maybe I can plant the rye and clover just like I planted the peas.

Experiment is one of the most fulfilling thing I have done all my life.

Larry

If I recall correctly the key is to always keep the soil covered, preferably rooted. cover croppers usually chop and drop the existing plants (or cover) and seed the cover drop down below. I'd sew something to grow if the conditions were adequate. I'll be getting started with hairy vetch, soon. I should have done this last week with the cooler temps. It really has been an awesome summer. I still have buckwheat standing.

I'm going to have a busy fall and winter getting everything ready for next spring. Looking forward to it.

Larry, The trouble with most cover crops grown in the open in the winter time is that the deer and every other hungry critter around will eat them, so you may need to keep the electric fence around the cover crop to protect it.

Dawn

Larry,

Those leaves are edible. I will blanch and freeze a bunch of mine soon.

John, my dog will agree with you. I have never eaten pea leaves that I know of. Our dog likes nearly all kinds of vegetables. He has had 12 teeth removed and cant do a good job eating them, but most of my plants look like they have been "Snake Bite", thanks to him.