Happy little peas at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens
There’s nothing quite as satisfying as crunching into the sweet goodness of a homegrown snap pea right off the garden vine.
Despite my adoration of homegrown peas, I’m admittedly a less-than-mediocre pea farmer. I’m infamous for not planting them early enough in the spring and not giving them the structural support they need to climb and flourish.
I have now fully tested (and in my opinion, debunked) my husband’s theory that peas don’t need trellises. He contends that planted in dual rows, one row will embrace and support the other. On a large scale (the scale that his brain is stuck on), I’m sure investing the time and materials in a structural system may not outweigh the yield increase, but on the scale of our little home garden, I’m a believer in trellising.
My husband planted our peas in dual rows (just in case) on a respectable April 4th and I have been searching for the perfect trellis for them ever since.
While recently traveling through Madison, Wisconsin, I stopped for a quick pea trellis tour at the Eagle Heights Community Gardens. One of the oldest and largest community gardens in the United States, EHCG is an open gallery of organic horticultural practices from around the world. At last count, there were over 60 languages spoken within this 450 plot garden community. I tended to a little plot of land here myself while a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin and enjoy revisiting the gardens whenever I’m in the area. Being late April, the shades of green were minimal, but the peas were present and the trellising inspirations abundant.
I hereby share with you my impromptu 2010 Eagle Heights Community Gardens pea trellis awards:
Most Creative: The Bike Rim Pea Trellis
Most Recycled: The Wire Bed Frame Pea Trellis
Most Resourceful: The Anything and Everything Junk Yard Pea Trellis
Most Perplexing: The What-the-huh? Pea Trellis
Most Tidy: The Traditional Metal Post and String Pea Trellis
Most Eco-Friendly: The Woven Kindling Pea Trellis
Although I didn’t find the perfect pea trellis that just had to be cloned into my own garden, I did find all the resourcefulness and creativity at EHCG very inspiring.
While later strolling through the lovely Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, I did discover some cute little pea trellis teepees (tee-peas?) that I wouldn’t mind cloning.
My weekend mission: Turn inspiration to product. Stay tuned!
As an oldtime pea grower, I share in your desire to find the perfect pea trellis..actually I think I have found one…but don’t have enough. I am currently using some sturdy corn crib panels. Who uses a corn crib these days?
Love the different photos Very creative. You’ve inspired me and made me smile.
Nice photos! I’m off to browse your site a bit (putting off working in the rain).