Though we've had a few chilly nights with frost, we haven't had a serious freeze, and the sweet peas are acting like they were made for this kind of weather. (Maybe they were!) While the first frost completely killed everything else in the garden, these peas are still vigorous - still blooming, for pete's sake!
On Saturday, I decided I'd better pick the peas before the really cold weather sets in. I took a plastic grocery bag to the garden and filled it nearly full of fat pods. The frost had turned the pods a strange, whitish color, but the peas inside were just fine. We shelled them for supper on Sunday night, and got about 2 cups of peas. I should have picked them sooner; some of the peas had grown so big that their skins had split, and they were still a little al dente even after 5 minutes of steaming. But, heck, I'd never grown sweet peas, so what did I know? In any case, they tasted wonderful.
There are many more immature pods still on the vines. We're supposed to get some below-freezing temperatures this week, and I'm curious to see how the peas will cope with it.
While we were at the hardware store on Saturday, I bought a big sack of tulip bulbs. I wish I had planted them this past weekend, since it'll probably be even colder this coming weekend. Spring bulbs are such a joy. By springtime, I've usually forgotten what I planted the previous fall, and so every flower is a welcome surprise. I'm going to plant these tulips in the beds along the front sidewalk, where there is creeping phlox and creeping vinca. Won't it be terrific if they all bloom at the same time next year?
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