Planting Peas Pronto

1. Obtain desired number of clean pots of designated size and shape (i.e. round or square, 4" or 8") and place the into pot trays.
2. Make sure the wheelbarrow is full of soil, if not, fill it with the appropriate soil..
3. Water the soil and mix thoroughly (i.e. Get Muddy!). Keep adding water and turning the soil until it is wet but not dripping.
4. Fill pots with soil to a quarter inch from the top.
5. Label stakes with the appropriate plant identification number. An example is 99A061.21, which means this plant was the 21st plant in the 61st planting of winter 1999. Make sure that other plant ID numbers have been crossed off on the stake before labelling it with the new number.
6. Select the appropriate envelope of seeds, and then count the number of seeds within it.
7. Record planting number, resource, growth room, genotype, number of seeds, etc. in the pea book.
8. Determine the seed characteristics, such as seed color, shape, texture, and cotyledon color. Record these observations in the pea book as well.
9. Knick the seeds. This entails using a scalpel, razor blade, or other sharp object to remove a small (3-5 pinheads in area) portion of the seed coat. In addition to exposing the cotyledon color, this will allow the seed to germinate.
10. Place each of the labelled stakes in the far left corner of the pot (if the short end of the rectangular plant rack is facing you).
11. Place each of the seeds in a pot on the surface of the soil (do not push them into the soil immediately, or you may forget if a seed was or was not planted).
12. After the all seeds of a particular planting are on the soil surface in the appropriate number, press seeds slightly down into soil so that the seeds are barely covered.
13. Water trays of pots until the water does not soak into the soil for a couple of seconds.
14. Place trays in the appropriate growth room.