Early peas

Season

Spring

Name

Peas

Common Name

Peas

Description

There is nothing nicer than being able to eat fresh peas from a pod in your garden in the summer. Sow some extra peas, so you have some to eat outside as you harvest them and enough to cook as well.

Growing Tips

You will need:

• A packet of peas - often there are not many peas per plant so sow the whole packet to get a decent picking. Choose early pea varieties such as ‘Early Onward’, ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ or ‘Misty’.
• Rake
• Gardening gloves
• Plant label
• Twiggy pea sticks or netting

How to grow:

1. Early varieties of peas can be sown straight in to the soil from March. Make sure the space where you are going to sow is weed free and has been raked to a level surface.
2. Using the back of the rake or a hoe, make a flat drill in the soil 10–15cm wide to a depth of 5cm.
3. Along both sides of the drill, sow the pea seeds at 5–10cm intervals. If you are going to sow more than one row then allow about 60cm between the rows.
4. In colder areas or to protect against mice, peas can be started off inside in pots, modules or guttering filled with compost. The pea plants can be planted out when they are 10cm high.

Maintenance:

• Peas like to scramble and climb so will need some support once they start growing. One of the easiest and most natural supports is to insert twiggy branches (often called ‘pea sticks’) after planting.
• Keep the peas well watered if the weather is dry.