Hey retiredprof,

Did you get much of the snow? We had about 3-4 inches overnight and winds that woke me up. Another 2-3 today, lots of drifting and the roads are a mess.
Looking forward to planting some St. Patrick's Day peas! They love our sandy soil and have done well last few years. Will be toasting a beer to paddy dear, but haven't planned a menu yet, that sounds like the ticket.
Enjoy!

Shore

Hey retiredprof,

Did you get much of the snow? We had about 3-4 inches overnight and winds that woke me up. Another 2-3 today, lots of drifting and the roads are a mess.
Looking forward to planting some St. Patrick's Day peas! They love our sandy soil and have done well last few years. Will be toasting a beer to paddy dear, but haven't planned a menu yet, that sounds like the ticket.
Enjoy!

Shore

Hey retiredprof,

Did you get much of the snow? We had about 3-4 inches overnight and winds that woke me up. Another 2-3 today, lots of drifting and the roads are a mess.
Looking forward to planting some St. Patrick's Day peas! They love our sandy soil and have done well last few years. Will be toasting a beer to paddy dear, but haven't planned a menu yet, that sounds like the ticket.
Enjoy!

Shore

I'm Scottish. I drink wine when I garden.

Hey Prof,
Do you share you recipes for your stew?
You can post it on the conversation side if you do,sounds yummy.I will go look,:0)

I like it quiet.
Never thought of sowing for a holiday,hummmmmmmmmmmmm
cAROL

My grandmother always tried to plant her peas on March 17. Her grandmother was Irish, too.

Don (dem_pa)

Sadly, I never knew my Irish grandmother, she died when my Dad was just a kid. When she and her mother and sisters came here from Belfast they lived on a farm in Rye NY, I would imagine they leased it. Growing up in New Jersey, my Dad would go up to Rye to visit his aunts and enjoy the country life, especially the duck eggs. Maybe they grew peas too, but he never mentioned that.

I must have gotten my love of gardening from that side of the family, my 3 siblings are strictly city folk while I'm strictly the horse and animal loving country girl. I only have one female Irish cousin who grew up in the city, but moved to Ohio and bought a farm, and had horses too.

Mary

Before I found WSing, I used to sow my peas on St. Patrick's Day, but now I WS them, usually a bit earlier. I didn't know that that was an Irish custom; I just figured it was an old gardening custom, perhaps along the line of an old wive's tale. Maybe an old farmer's wife's tale, lol?

:)
Dee

Well, I am a Limey,hence the screename, there are some Irish in the family. I come from Buckleys, Browns, and the Townsends.

If the ground isn't frozen and snow packed I plant peas also on St. Patty's Day. Corned beef and cabbage are the standard fare for that day

Well, there's some Irish in me, and this will be my first year planting peas, so March 17 sounds like the day!

Any kind of peas?

PV

Oh great! I have no pea seeds, so it's back to Walmart and 20 cent seed isle. I wonder how that's gonna go?

I'm Scott/Irish and Bohemian and in honor of that heritage, we drink beer. But, you have reminded me of my great, great grandma Amy McCluer. For her... I will plant peas and then raise a beer.

On the subject of peas - I've been reading 6-8 plants per square foot of planting area (square foot gardening). Is that realistic? I'll be growing in a 12" square pot ...

PV

I plant peas on March 17th because my great-grandmother planted them in March (in Iowa and she was German and married to an Englishman--Driver).

I plant peas on March 17th because Larry Mieller (spell?) on Garden Talk on WPR often states this is a good date to plant peas in Wisconsin.

I plant peas on March 17th because I can remember the date, and I love looking forward to St. Patrick's Day to plant peas. My first planting out day of the year, which is pretty amazing for my zone 5. I think this year I will be scattering my peas in the snow. :)

Now I can add having Irish Stew and a Guinness to my pea planting tradition. :)

cheers,
Nora Belle

My mother was a Fitzgerald, so in honor and memory of her this year I will plant peas on March 17th for the very first time. I would normally raise a beer too but this year gave up alcohol for Lent. Can I grow them in a container Professor?
Thanks
Clare of County Clare

Well, I'll be planting the peas on St Paddy's day (or thereabouts, since it's on a Tuesday this year). I think it's more that my favorite holiday falls at just the right planting time for the cold-loving crop. The other old saw I have heard and read is that you plant the peas when the leaves on the Lilac are as big as a mouse's ear. I've got big buds but no leaves yet, but mice do have tiny ears.

My mother was Pa Dutch and always said to plant peas on St Patrick's Day! I wonder where the tradition started?
Joann

I too plant my peas on St. Patricks day and have been for many years. Its usually corned beef and cabbage here too to celebrate my Irish heritage also, and I love to listen to Irish Music. I don't know where the tradition of planting peas on March 17th started but I've been doing it since 1983 when I first ventured into gardening.

Alberta

Hmm, being the history buff that I am, and loving to discover the origins of traditions and other little everyday things, this topic piqued my interest, so I did a quick google search. There are tons of references to planting peas by St. Patrick's Day, but in my limited time before I have to go shovel my way to work this morning I couldn't find much out.

Thought this article might be of some interest.

Dee
P.S. I do work at a library, lol, so if time permits I'll see what I can dig up!

Here is a link that might be useful: Peas on King George III's b'day

I'm Northern Irish, Scots, Welsh, and English. My grandpa used to plant peas with the new moon so that's when I do them, too (the 26th this year). He had an extraordinary green thumb and gardened by the moon, common sense, and what some would term as superstition.




And potatoes on Good Friday, 10 April this year.

Huh. Where I grew up, it was always "Peas on Good Friday." That's way after St. Patty's Day. Think I'll start some on St. Pat's and Good Friday this year. Glad I saw this!

Diana Lynn

I'd like to plant peas on St. Patrick's Day, but am not sure I can find my garden under the snow by then.

I dunno about planting anything by the "good Friday" rule, it changes every year and varies as much as a month.

St Patty day is always the same tho...

:)

Hi everyone, please excuse my ignorance to both gardening and winter sowing, I am new to both. When you talk about planting peas, are you talking about winter sowing them or planting them in the ground. If you are talking about planting them in the ground don't you have to protect them from any heavy frost?

I was going to try to WS sweet peas in TP rolls, then stick that in the soil as soon as it thaws. Has anyone ever done it that way?
I don't know if I'll be able to see the ground on the 17th of March.
I'm just a mutt but I'm sure an Irishman(or woman!) is back there somewhere!
-B

Oh, this is great fun! I had no idea this thread would inspire the Irish in everyone.

When I was a wee lad, my Irish grandmother would always make a big deal of having me sow the peas. They were like 20 cents a pack back then, and she had a patch of dirt about 3'x3' in the back of her little rowhouse in Port Richmond, Philly. "Push them in, push them in," she'd say and I'd push them in. Then she'd sprinkle them with holy water, say a quick prayer, and feed me breakfast. We always did it first thing in the morning.

They grew on a little fence that doubled as space for her morning glories later n the spring. We never had enough for more than a meal (she shelled them--no snap peas back then), but the fact that the seeds actually looked like little shriveled peas and made "real ones" when they grew fascinated me to no end.

Last Fall, I planted some sugar snaps in an earthbox just to test them. They grew like crazy and the cooler it got here, the more they produced. In the box, I just made a shallow trench (maybe 1/2" deep) and placed them in a row spaced about an inch apart. I didn't harvest any because I ate them all right off the vines.

So, from my experience, I would say you can definitely grow them in containers.

I plan to direct-sow on the 17th. I use square foot gardening in raised beds, so I'm building trellises on two of the beds and placing nylon trellis on them. I'm doing Sugar Snap and Sugar Ann, four squares of each. I'll plant in a trench again, maybe 10-12 in each square.

I have some row covers, so I'm thinking I'll peg that down until they get a good start.

I understand that many folks start peas indoors and transplant them out and have great success. The key to tat seems to be just giving them a 2-3 week head start. I've never WS'd them, but may just do a bottle or two to test that approach out, and maybe fill in any gaps in the trench.

You know what? Even if you can't see the ground for the snow and it's frozen solid, place a seed in a cup and toast St. Patty. It's all about the fun of tradition.

As for the stew recipe, I'll post in in conversations. My grandmother, Maggie, would be pleased.

I direct sow peas on St. Patrick's Day too :)
I'm thinking about maybe wintersowing a few containers this year too just for the heck of it, but not sure...it's just too easy to sow in place.

My maternal great grandmother McClearn's ancestors immigrated to Nova Scotia in 1761 from Ulster,North Ireland. Tradition in my grandmother's home was Corned Beef and Cabbage. I'm not a big fan of Corned Beef though, so it's not cooked in my home :O

Here is a link that might be useful: McClearn Family History