Great Companions: Wheat & Peas

The winter wheat and peas I bought from Native Seed SEARCH have done really really well. I planted them in late spring, way after the guides said I should, just because I was excited and didn't want to wait 7 months.

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Well, somehow, despite them being winter crops, it has worked out pretty good, with the wheat now maturing on the stalk and even the peas surviving in full sun, long after all the other peas and grasses have totally burned up. The trick, without a doubt, was intensive planting, and the surprising companion relationship between the peas and wheat. Being local varieties has probably helped as well.


The wheat stalks have provided a perfect scafolding for the peas to latch on to and grow with. As well as providing some nice shade so the ground stays moist and cool.

To top it all off, this is on totally unimproved Arizona soil. I added absolutely zero fertilizer for this bed, no bonemeal, no bloodmeal, nothin'! It was just a test patch, but it has turned into a great lesson on local varieties, companions, and intensive methods. Next time I will more carefully balance the peas to wheat ratio, plant earlier, and fertilize, and I can't wait to see the results.

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Wild Wheat Harvested

A lot of Arizonans do not water their lawns during the winter, when the bermuda grass goes dormant, but just for the fun of it, I started watering a few years ago.

At first, just an odd and ugly collection of weeds popped up on that barren land, which I would dutifully cut with my lawnmower, hoping I was at least helping the soil a bit with the mulch. But gradually, over a few winters, the content of the winter lawn began to change.

Wouldn't you know it, my winter lawn went from totally wild to semi-tame! The object of my love was definitely the wild yellow clover, which is so soft and sweet looking. (Let's never mind the nasty sharp seed pods it puts out in April when it dries up, for the moment...) I even harvested the clover seed this year, thinking to maybe use it in the back yard coming up, to help restore the garden soil.

All kinds of grasses, for sure, also come up in the wild front year. But this year, most spectacularly, wild wheat! For some reason, tons of it came up this year. Once I realized what it was, I stopped mowing it, and just let it grow. Next year I am going to plant this wild winter wheat like a real farmer, by gum. The grains are as big and soft as the ones in the seed packet I paid three bucks for, it is the real thing for sure.

Corn, Wheat, and Soy

The typical gardening book is focused on vegetables, and maybe herbs and flowers. But the serious Victory Gardener might also be concerned with the basic staple foods known as grains. Grains are the basis for much of what we eat, and can be used to feed livestock and chickens as well.

I just found this cool little knowledge tidbit, maybe it will help you, related to calculations on your fertilizer inputs for the three big staples:


Corn consumes roughly 5.6 times more fertilizer than soybeans and 2.5 times more nutrients than wheat. Wheat consumes roughly 2.2 times as much fertilizer as soybeans. Nutrients being measured by pounds per acre, combined nitrogen + phosphate + potash.

Spring Sprouts

Corn!



Wheat!




Beets about 1 inch high:

Winter Weeds Blooming and Seeding

I love winter weeds. I have the most beautiful winter front lawn thanks to 'em. I call it clover, but I really have no idea if it is a true clover or not. Whatever it is, it makes the nicest most soft lawn. It is coming up with these pretty little yellow flowers right now. (I love it now, but it will produce these nasty sharp pointed seed pods later.) Here it is:


And this weird grass stuff, that if you let it grow, is more like sorghum or wheat stalks. This stuff is just awesome! I am totally going to harvest its seeds this year. If anyone knows what it is actually called, let me know. Here are some pics: