garden peas

when is it safe to plant peas, do you have to wait till all signs of frost are past?

 

Probably April for outdoor planting as far north as Aberdeenshire.

I once started some off early indoors in those biodegradable puts. By the time the roots has started to break through the sides it was warm enough outside for them to go out. The bonus is you just shove the whole pot straight into the ground, no messing about getting them out and upsetting their roots.

 

Hi folks. I never grew peas, always seemed to me like a lot of hard work for nothing. The mice, the birds, the aphids, the watering, the shelling. Am I missing something ? I'm seriously considering growing some this year, I just need a little convincing Cheers...freddy.

 

The wife and I haven't bothered with peas for a couple of years or so now, mainly because a lot of them end up going to waste because we grow too many. We never used netting, and have never had much trouble with aphids outdoors, presumably because we always get lots of hoverflies.

 

Last year Kathy I sowed my first in guttering in our polytunnel on 9th March. They were planted out about a month later under cloches. If you sow too soon when the soil is still cold a high percentage of the seeds will rot.

Clueless1 - We always end up with more than we can use, despite successional sowing. So we now dry the surplus and use it over the winter. Had a good pot of pea and ham soup this week using our dried peas.

 

How do you dry them?

 

thanks guys,this mild weather makes you want to get started
my greenhouse is not heated at the moment, i will wait another couple of weeks,i will also try the
pots clueless1,sounds a good idea ,we usually have loads to spare,neighbors can use them,i think they are quite easy to dry ,mine never last that long

 

For years we used to let them dry on the vine and then pick and shell them, but we've now got an electric dehydrator which does the job very much better.

 

Hi JWK. They taste better than frozen ?

 

Not worth the effort. Stick to beans and mangetout. Frozen are too good.

 

We only grow a few plants for the two of us and I think it's worth it although they don't make the kitchen

 

I`m giving them a bash this year-sugarsnap mostly and I reckon if all goes well they won`t make it to the kitchen either.