Peas remain a firm favourite in our veggie top ten being relatively easy to grow and giving an endless supply of mangetout all summer long. Believe it or not, the humble pea was actually the first veg to be canned and frozen. If you ask me, that’s an incredible achievement for something that looks like an over-sized ball of snot. Peas have been grown as a crop since the year dot. I mean, imagine your Friday night fish feast without a decent helping of peas – unthinkable!! And yet many people struggle to grow pea plants. Father, for all his years of gardening experience, has yet to raise a crop of mangetout to rival our pea powerhouse.
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| Baby mangetout plants |
This year’s mangetout were planted a few weeks ago in that sunny early April fortnight around Easter. Bearing in mind the fickleness of the British spring weather, the seeds have been languishing under a plastic protective dome (a kind of veggie sauna) in case of unexpected frosts but other than turning over the soil in the veg bed and adding a dash of fresh compost beforehand, there’s no secret recipe to aid seed germination.
In the right conditions, it only takes about 2-3 weeks before tiny pea plants make an appearance and once they’re about 6 inches tall, a good netted frame is needed to support the plant into adulthood. Previously a handful of bamboo canes and a bit of cheap netting from the 99p shop have done the trick but this year, I’ve splashed out on some sturdier green plastic rods from Wilkinsons as bamboo tends to get a bit brittle after a few years use.
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| Netting up the peas |
And so to the annual task of netting up the peas – canes, netting and cable ties are all that’s needed to get your pea crop off the ground.
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