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| 28th May 2011 - Plot Peas |
It's time to think about sowing peas. I sowed some early ones a couple of months ago but germination has been pretty poor so I will have to start over.
Every year since I have been growing my own vegetables I have always sown a row of peas on the plot. I just love picking and eating fresh garden peas straight from the plant. Mixing two or three different varieties together gives you a long harvesting season. But one year when germination wasn't very good I sowed an extra lot in troughs in the Rosebank garden just to make sure of getting at least a few helpings for dinner and they were very successful, I may even try some trailing from hanging baskets this year as well.
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| 12tth June 2012 - Plot Peas |
I'm afraid I don't have enough room to spare to be self-sufficient in peas, but one row of mixed varieties gives me plenty to harvest over the summer, I know it's easier to open a bag of frozen peas which are of excellent quality, but there is just something about picking peas and podding them and popping them into your mouth to eat raw or in salads or cooked with mint and dressed with melted butter, that to me, is what veg gardening is all about.
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| 27th June 2012 |
This time last year they were growing well - I started them off in pots in the greenhouse at the beginning of March and they were planted out by the middle of March, you may remember that last year March was gloriously sunny.
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| 19th March 2012 |
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| 28th March 2012 |
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| 14th May 2012 |
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| 23rd May 2012 |
I hope this year, when spring decides to get off its backside and start being springified, and the soil warms up a bit, that I will be able to plant out. One of the benefits of growing in troughs is that you don't get much mice damage, it is always touch and go when you sow direct into the soil. So I will adopt the same belt and braces technique again this year, one row at the plot, the rest in containers. Just thinking about the fresh green growth and those little clinging tendrils and juicy fat pods lifts my spirits, and no matter what anyone says there should always be room to grow a few peas - just for the sheer pleasure of it, if nothing else.
Do you love growing peas as much as I do?
I do not enjoy growing peas as much as you do Elaine, but I enjoy eating them (especially the "stolen" ones that never make it as far as the kitchen). I have tried growing peas several times, but I have never been very successful. Mine always seem to succumb to mildew, and the yields they produce don't justify the use of space. This year I have only a couple of pots of peas as a token gesture.
ReplyDeleteFunny isn't it - I can always rely on peas to come good - I shouldn't have said that - it will probably all go pear-shaped now.
DeleteI do love freshly picked garden peas but for us last year wasn't a good year - we usually manage enough to freeze some but not last year.
ReplyDeleteI don't grow enough quantities to have any to freeze but I don't mind too much as I prefer them fresh - Mr. Bird's Eye can provide the frozen when I run out.
DeleteEvery year we have tried peas they have either failed to come up or produced just a few pods that never made it home to the kitchen. Delicious though! We love flat podded types here and we have had better success with those.
ReplyDeleteWe start almost all of our vegetable plants at home and transplant, they seem to do much better under our watchful eyes at home.
Wishing you lots and lots of peas!
I think that last year was so wet a lot of seed rotted before it had a chance - I must have caught the weather at the right moment 'cos I had no probs.
DeleteWhat a fabulous crop of peas you had last year! I too am patiently (okay, not patiently at all) waiting for the warmer weather to arrive so I can start sowing outside. Like you say, there is nothing better than the taste of a freshly podded pea :-)
ReplyDeleteThe warmer weather can't come soon enough for me - I have so much still to do before I can even think about planting out or sowing.
DeletePeas were awful on my plot last year Elaine (as were many others I suspect), I love eating them as I pick they are well worth the effort, I am now a convert to pea shoots in salads and sandwiches too
ReplyDeleteI love pea shoots too and always grow some in containers - I just buy those packets of dried peas from the supermarket as they are a lot cheaper.
DeleteI love peas freshly podded and popped straight in the mouth, delish. The rest of the family aren't huge pea fans, Hubby prefers mangetout so we grow those too.
ReplyDeleteI'm not very keen on mange tout I find them a bit tough.
DeleteThere is nothing like podding peas straight into one's mouth :) I sowed mine in modules in my tunnel. They grew well and had to stay in modules until now. They are so big I just had to plant them in the tunnel beds and the old hothouse too. I have planted nothing outside yet,and my tunnel is full.Don't know what I am going to do with my toms....might have to leave in big pots and scatter around other veg in the tunnel! Come on,Mother Nature....we gardeners need a small break!
ReplyDeleteOh dear! a full tunnel already. This weather is playing havoc with everyone's gardening plans.
DeleteThere is nothing like podding peas straight into one's mouth :) I sowed mine in modules in my tunnel. They grew well and had to stay in modules until now. They are so big I just had to plant them in the tunnel beds and the old hothouse too. I have planted nothing outside yet,and my tunnel is full.Don't know what I am going to do with my toms....might have to leave in big pots and scatter around other veg in the tunnel! Come on,Mother Nature....we gardeners need a small break!
ReplyDeleteI learned too late that you should never tell children that peas taste best picked and eaten straight away... mine now help themselves to any ripe pods, and it's very rare for any peas to get as far as the kitchen!
ReplyDeleteOh well I don't really suppose it matters which way they are eaten at least your children know where their veg comes from.
DeleteI love growing peas too! I've never managed to preserve any peas for winter yet because I always eat all fresh directly from plants :)
ReplyDeleteYou need to grow an awful lot of peas to have any spare to freeze - I am quite happy just to eat them fresh too.
DeleteI've had more success with mangetout (flat podded peas?) too. I've tried fat podded peas, and am doing so again this year, but usually have a poor crop by comparison. The mangetout are my first harvest of the year and all the better for that!
ReplyDeleteWhen I grew mange tout I had more than I knew what to do with - I wonder - do they freeze ok?
DeleteI'm growing more this year, so I'll let you know.
DeleteTo avoid the toughness they do need to be eaten young. There's a very small window. Another reason for needing to freeze them!
As my plot is not huge, I reserve its space for other things. Actually, I'm a huge fan of French tinned Peas, and frozen!
ReplyDeleteAs I only have a small half plot, and know that there are mice around, I've never grown them.
ReplyDeleteI can certainly see the appeal of growing, and eating, them as you and others do. Flighty xx
Each year I vow I won't bother with them again - too much trouble blah blah blah - but I always do, same with broad beans, I'm not really that keen on them but still grow them.
DeleteLovely post Elaine. We don't grow veggies, not enough room but my dad did when I was a child. I remember my sister and I used to sit on the back door step every Sunday to shell the peas for lunch and it seemed to take forever. Mind you we were probably eating as many as were going in the pot! Have a good week.
ReplyDeletePatricia x
I remember that too Pat - so many pods for so little peas.
DeleteGreat idea mixing the varieties of peas for longer harvest. I've already bought my seeds for this year but this might be a good idea in future. I love peas and keep planting them but sometimes it feels like they take up an awful lot of room for little reward.
ReplyDeleteI agree Marguerite but I just can't resist planting them - maybe one day I'll come to my senses.
DeleteLook at all this beautiful green!! Makes me want to grow my own garden Elaine :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day your wish will come true Keith
DeleteI'm inspired by your post and I must try to grow peas again this year. Last year I didn't have much success with peas.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping for better this year even though last years crop wasn't too bad.
DeleteSNAP! I have planted pots of peas and beans this week too but the weather forecast still isn't very encouraging.
ReplyDeleteNot started on the beans yet I'm biding my time - I usually start in May.
DeleteI love fresh peas, there is nothing like them. I also love my family sitting round our table together, shelling the peas ready to freeze them. We have competitions to find the pod with the most peas in lol
ReplyDeleteI can remember sitting on the back doorstep with my grandma shelling peas - happy days.
DeleteUsually one of the first crops I sow. I sowed a couple of rows a month ago outside, they are just germinating this week, under cloches.
ReplyDeleteEverything has been very slow to germinate - but now it is warming up a bit hopefully it will all take off.
DeleteOh yes, you can't beat home grown peas! x
ReplyDeleteHear hear
DeleteI've sowed some too, I love peas, its one of my first memories of my grandpas garden, him letting me pick and shell some peas. The sweetness. Yep they are a must on my plot.
ReplyDeleteLet's hope they do well for us this year
DeleteI've been feeling rather fed up with my peas, as I purposely bought a variety (Juno) good for early sowing. They have just started to germinate now. I think peas in pots is a lovely idea, I will have to give that a go I think, despite promising myself that I wouldn't grow things in containers this year to avoid the extra compost cost... But they are so irresistible...
ReplyDelete