Peas & Oats

Description

Weight: approx 1kg – – enough to plant 60-80 sq m or 6-8 x 10m long an 1m wide beds

Description: This is a classic combination. A grass with a legume create soil building synergy. In this case the oats are very special oats. These Black oats were developed in Germany to grow maximum biomass to feed horses over winter. They grow way way bigger tops than other oats, and love growing with peas. Oats will usually be (always so far for me) the plants in our gardens with the highest BRIX. They have a wonderful ability to sequester or bring in calcium and phosphate into their bodies which then goes into our compost and helps us build soil. These are two minerals we need the most! We love oats.

Planting Instructions: It is easier to get even coverage of both crops if they are planted separately. Measure out the amount of both seeds you need to plant your area. This pack of seeds would cover 40 sq m of bed so if you are planting 10 sq m take 1/4 of the peas and 1/4 of the oats, and keep separate. Prepare your bed, and then evenly scatter the peas over the entire area, then do the same with the oats. Chop the seeds in using a rake (these techniques are on our online workshop Bed Prep and Planting), water the bed and cover with a 70% shade cloth until the tips peak through. carefully remove the cloth and then replace for a few more days until seedlings are past the stage where birds will eat them. You could use bird netting instead of the shade cloth. Shade cloth will give faster germination but may need to come off before the birds leave crops alone. We either remove to make compost or cut down to become mulch on that bed in Spring. If you cut it down you will need to cover with plastic to kill all plants before transplanting seedlings through the mulch.