Peas are jolly little troopers, happy to be planted even before the temperature warms up. According to the seed packet, they can go in the ground 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost date, especially if the soil temperature is above 40 degrees F.

Here are the peas at bathtime Saturday morning in a blue glass bowl of water for a good 24 hour soaking.

Here they are on Sunday morning, all plumped in together. The soaking is meant to give them a head start on germinating once they are in the ground.

On Sunday morning, hauling out of bed was just not my favorite idea. But those peas needed to get in the ground, so I trudged straight outdoors aiming for an optimistic mindset and humming “Why do fools fall in love?” with the peas and 25 bamboo stakes. The stakes went along the raised garden bed. Each stake got two six-inch holes dug beside them, hopefully deep enough to confuse the crows. Then the 50 or so peas went into the holes under a layer of garden soil.

It’s good luck when peas go in the ground while the weather is chilly and windy and damp. They’ll hatch along on their own and find their way up to the sun. If all works out well we could see 50 little shoots perk up through the ground on or around February 22. If all works out even better, we could have peas starting in 70 days, or early May. Peas are a very pretty sight, and they are dramatic and fast-growing enough to amuse the neighbors. Which is, after all, the whole point.

Meanwhile here’s another view of Mrs. Wing’s daikon, as pretty as… well, as a picture.