How to grow peas

Different types of peas

Don’t be fooled into thinking that all peas are the same. There are shelling peas, edible-podded peas and even purple-podded peas.

Shelling Peas- As the name suggests, shelling peas are grown for the peas inside the pods. Once shelled, the pods are discarded. These fall into two main types, early and maincrop. Early varieties such as Pea ‘Misty’ and the ever popular Pea ‘Kelvedon Wonder’ can be harvested just 12 weeks from sowing. Maincrops such as Pea ‘Oasis’ take 15 weeks to crop. Shelling peas are often divided into ‘wrinkle seeded’, which tend to be sweeter, and ‘smooth-seeded’ types which are often hardier varieties.

Edible-Podded Peas - Mange Tout and Sugar Snap Peas are both edible-podded types that are harvested at different stages of maturity. Flat-podded Mange Tout is harvested while young, whereas round-podded Sugar Snap Peas are harvested when they are semi-mature. There are plenty of varieties to choose from including the very pretty Pea ‘Shiraz’ - the first purple-podded Mange Tout!

How to sow peas

• Protect seed - Birds love to steal pea seed so cover trenches with chicken wire or netting after sowing. This can removed once the seeds have germinated.
• Provide supports - Peas produce tendrils to help them climb upwards. Erect wire netting, or push upright twiggy sticks into the ground along the length of each trench to provide your peas with supports to cling to.
• Water regularly- Once pea plants start to flower it’s best to water thoroughly once a week to encourage good pod development. You can reduce water loss by applying a thick mulch of well rotted manure or compost to lock moisture into the soil.
• Don't over-feed - Don't feed peas with nitrogen rich fertilisers as can cause lots of leafy growth instead of producing pea pods. In most cases peas won't require any extra feed, especially if you added plenty of organic matter to the soil before sowing.

Watch the video below to find out more about how to grow Peas:

Harvesting peas

• Peas should be harvested regularly to encourage more pods to be produced. The pods at the bottom of each plant will mature first so begin harvesting from low down and work your way up as the pods mature. All peas can be frozen but they are sweetest and tastiest when eaten freshly picked from the garden.
• Early varieties can be harvested 11-12 weeks from sowing while maincrop varieties need 13 -15 weeks to mature.
• Mange Tout is best harvested young while the pods are still flat, and before the peas inside begin to swell. .
• Sugar Snap peas are best harvested when semi-mature, as the peas inside each pod begin to swell.

Fix Nitrogen for next years crops

Peas are legumes, which take in nitrogen from the air and ‘fix’ (store) it in small nodules along their roots. When growing garden peas, don’t be tempted to pull the plants up from the roots at the end of the season. The leaves and stems can be cut off at ground level and added to the compost heap, before digging the roots into the ground. As the roots break down, they release nitrogen into the soil. The nitrogen is then free to be taken up by next year’s crop in a normal rotation system - try growing brassicas in this spot next year!