We collected several bushel baskets full of old composted stable manure and a generous amount of field lime to work into the trench where she planted the sweet peas. The finished row was a v-shaped wedge with the bottom several inches below grade. We planted the sweet pea seeds about two inches deep and about four to six inches apart, in the bottom of the trench. In very dry years we soaked the seeds overnight to aid germination. Each time I returned to visit, I always ran out to the flower yard to see if our sweet peas were growing.
Sweet peas take several weeks to emerge.
Grandma cautioned me to cover any tender young shoots with a thin layer of soil to protect them from the freezing weather. I know now that these frequent coverings of soil also smothered any winter annual weeds that tried to compete with the flowers. By springtime, the trench had been filled with soft thin layers of soil as the young sweet peas grew toward the light. Their roots were deep in the cool moist soil below. Soon our garden was redolent with the fragrance of sweet peas.