Peas

I think I will try some sugar snap peas. They are so nice in stir frys!! And just for chomping!!

 

i think it is just nice to grow your own spuds for taste and novelty as they do taste far better but not always worth the effort put in

 

Hiya FC.

I grew some Peas for the first time last year, in a pretty shaded spot, and they didn't seem to mind it If you can (have the space), succession sow them.

I tend to agree about growing spuds in containers, a bit expensive considering the return. Some seem to do ok using that method, but on the occasion I did it, it was very disappointing.

Cheers...Freddy

 

i found if you grow spuds in bags the trick is getting the bag to retain the moisture as when you water the bag it tends to run straight out the bottom i drip feed them from bags and place them in shallow trays and found that this worked well

 

I grew spuds in bags a few years ago . It worked out at £1.27 a potato !
They tasted great but a lot of effort and expense for not very much return. Although the grow bags at £3.30 for 2 seem a lot cheaper these days.

 

I got mine from Wilkos at the end of July 2012 for 25p each:

The best polythene bags are B&Q rubble bags @30p each http://www.diy.com/nav/build/buildi...ubble-Bags-Pack-of-10-12628610?skuId=13149316

When there's too many to keep up with picking them we leave them to ripen and finish off drying them in a dehydrator.

 

basically pick pods and leave in wire tray (so air can flow) for them to dry some like to keep in pod over winter and shell once sowing next year, i like to shell and leave to to dry out on a bed of rice ( to remove moisture) then i store in jam jar in dry cupboard

 

Set aside a few plants at the end of a row just for seed saving to ensure they ripen early enough, don't pick the pods until the peas are fully formed and the pods start dry and shrivel. Spread them out somewhere indoors and remove the peas when the the pods are dry. Store in paper envelopes when you're absolutely certain they're fully dry. Don't save from F1 seeds if you want them to come true. Save enough for 2 years in case of some seed saving disaster the following year.

For subsequent seed saving, if you see some pea seeds really cheap buy them, grow them out and start saving again from those rather than your saved seeds as the commercial suppliers should be rouging out plants more thoroughly than you will be. Otherwise just carry on with your own stuff.

 

3 years ago, I came across a potato variety growing in a field that friends had inherited when they moved house, I suspect the variety to be CARA but can't be sure, I saved a few tubers grew them on and saved a few more from that harvest and so on.... Best potatoes we've ever tasted and will be growing their offspring again this year, if you don't try, you'll never know?

Go for it FC, store tubers in a dry cool place.

 

I usually grow a few spuds in big flower-pots 12" or so in size. For compost I use a mixture one part each sieved soil, garden compost, leafmould and cheapo general purpose compost. Each pot generally produces about 1 - 1.5kg - not a lot of course, but the taste is worth the time and effort.

These are last seasons, the ones in leaf are Charlotte and those at the front are Corolle (tubers pinched from the kitchen)



a-a

 

I remember Zigs posted a pic showing some that he grew in a couple (few?) old tyres stacked on top of each other, and they were stuffed with spuds. So it can work

 

Those were 10" drain connectors Freddy, I just slipped them over the plant & earthed them up.





Hell of a job getting the spuds out