Plant: mid-February to June
Harvest: June to September
Peas grow well in a garden, produce a good harvest and are fairly easy to maintain. And the taste of fresh garden peas is far better than any frozen variety.
Sowing
Peas like moist conditions with a medium pH soil. They prefer cool, sunny conditions.
Dig your soil to 30-40cm and work in organic matter such as peat or bonemeal (bonemeal should be in the topsoil only) well in advance; a couple of months is ideal.
When you come to plant, dig shallow rows (2cm deep) which are the same distance apart as the full-grown plant will be high.
Sow the seed in these rows, singly and a couple of inches apart. Cover lightly again and then erect bamboo canes every couple of feet along the rows, with one placed across the top of all of them, fashioning a kind of "picket fence"; stretch netting across these to provide extra support for the growing tendrils.
Peas should be sown from March to June in batches for harvest three months after the batch is planted. If you want to start growing peas in Febrary, you can grow seedlings on your windowsill from mid-Feb, in peat pots which can then be planted directly.
Growing
As the peas begin to grow, tie them to the canes and the netting.
Water frequently and pinch off the shoots when they reach the top of the netting; this will encourage growth further down the plant.
As they grow upwards, you'll need a trellis or some other kind of support for them, but the benefit of this is that you'll be able to grow lots and still reserve room in your vegetable patch for other produce.
Harvesting
Harvest in June to September, 12 to 14 weeks after planting. If you're not sure, pop open a pod and taste them to see.
Pick peas just before you cook them, as they lose their freshness very quickly.
Varieties to try
- Onward - very popular, gives big crop
- Feltham First - for autumn or spring sowing, give a good crop of tasty peas in early summer
- Delikett - popular sugar-snap mange tout variety
