Nope, I still hate peas!

[Keaniebean]

You could make a low triangle shape from it,with the peas already in situ, allowing the peas to be supported nearer to the base and then let them do their own thing. The peas wouild then be quite easy to get to being above the support. Does that make sense

[Millymollymandy]

Yes (once I'd thought about it!) but it's very exposed and windy in my veg patch so I wonder if they'd be blowing about a bit. Peas only about 2 1/2 foot tall though and mange tout about 3 1/2 feet ish - they blew around more than the peas. Trouble is I'm never sure which way the wind will blow - this year so far it's nearly all north winds but the last two I've been staking up all my plants against SW winds!

[Odsox]

How do you grow them around it - a row of peas on either side?

Yes, exactly that, although if you have enough you could sow them between 2 pieces of fencing either side.
I wish I could do that but the plastic fencing is expensive and most of my money goes on P&P to seed companies.
Wind is no problem (I should know here) as long as you have some strong stakes to hold it up.

If you use one piece you will probably have to run a piece of string either side when they are fully grown, to rein them back, hence my thoughts on trapping them between two.

[Millymollymandy]

How would you harvest though - that would be rather difficult. I might try the fence wire thing next year but cut it in half height wise so I'll get twice as much length out of it . I don't know how much it costs here as OH bought it to fence off our veg patch and there's always been some left over which never seems to run out - plus it's reusable. It's great cut and bent into circles as plant supports - huge ones for dahlias and little ones for things like cranesbills and stuff that flops all over the place. Plus for newly planted things it keeps the ducks and cat off.

Oh and by the way, you were right - little peas are quite nice.

[Green Aura]

Didn't quite catch that MMM, speak up

[Odsox]

Oh and by the way, you were right - little peas are quite nice.

Well yes durr, you don't wait for other veg to be old and tough before you eat them, do you ?
Same goes for broad beans, eat them when they are only little bigger than peas, not when they are the size of half crowns.
We'll educate you yet.

[Millymollymandy]

Well excuse me sir I was following YOUR instructions - wait until there is no more give in the pod!!! Those aren't little ones!

The normal size ones I ate, and how many time do I have to say this, is what is served in the UK as peas. Frozen or fresh. So not overripe but just normal.

The little ones would take a month of Sundays to shell 2 portions worth. We had a baby size portion between the 2 of us so I mixed it in with my new spuds with lemony dressing.

I can't eat all my broad beans tiny because there'd only be enough total for a one person portion - so I skin them and they are very nice. (Didn't know they could get to half crown size and yes I do remember them! )

Are you growing all your 20 foot rows in your polytunnel because it must be enormous?

[Odsox]

Well excuse me sir I was following YOUR instructions - wait until there is no more give in the pod!!! Those aren't little ones!

Ah, but there's a world of difference between full and drum tight.

I only grow early overwintering peas in the polytunnel and as my tunnels are 30' and 35' there's no trouble fitting them in.
Height is a problem though as they always grow half as tall again as the size on the packet, the Early Onward that I usually grow is supposed to be 3' tall and mine grew way over the top of the 4' fencing mesh. I'm growing a small patch of different dwarfer varieties out in the garden to see how the taste compares.

These are my outside ones, Onward again, 2 x 20' rows growing up the 4' mesh and just about keeping to size.

Onward.jpg (137.39 KiB) Viewed 3705 times

[Millymollymandy]

Mine are dwarf about 2 foot high. How do you get in between those rows to water and pick the peas?

It's impossible to tell with peas what size they will be inside until you shell them because some are huge with tiny peas and some are not very full feeling yet the peas are really big (what you say is past it).

I don't have the time to be growing that many (with all the shelling) - mange tout are easier and I don't have to keep picking them up off the kitchen floor!

The one main thing I have learnt is to grow shorter rows of mange tout and longer rows of peas.

Anyway must off and continue watering the garden, only spent about 4 -5 hours a day doing it the last 3 days.

[Odsox]

How do you get in between those rows to water and pick the peas?

You can't see very well from the camera angle, but there is a 2' gap between the rows and although they try to shake hands across the gap you can still sidle up to pick them.
Watering is very seldom necessary, even though our spring dried up last week the soil is still moist just below the surface .. plus if I DO have to water I do it with a lawn sprinkler mounted on a pole, exactly the same as I do in my tunnels.
Life's too short to be carrying multiple watering cans.

[Millymollymandy]

Think I'll be still doing the carrying watering cans (veggies) and hosepiping (everything else) for the foreseeable future with the 10 day forecast being hot and sunny. The lawn's had it but it was already browning and patchy when we came back from our hols on 1st May!

Trouble is my next lot of mangetout are already starting to go yellow yet they're only in the flowering stage - I don't think they are too dry as I'm chucking water at them every 2-3 days but maybe it's too hot for them?

[Odsox]

Could be it's too hot as I think that peas and broad beans are a cooler climate veg.

The more I read of other people's experiences the more I appreciate living here.
Regarding watering the garden (as opposed to watering the tunnels/greenhouse/containers), I can't honestly remember the last time I did it. I HAVE done it but it was several years ago now. The lawn is a shocking shade of green although the growth has slowed a bit which means less mowing plus the temperature here seldom goes above 22c and just as seldom below 8c, no snow since I've been here and only very light frosts .. and then only some winters, some with no frost at all.

Also pests, never seen a Colorado beetle, no flea beetles, no moles, none of those funny French mice, no squirrels, no pigeons, no deer, no rabbits (thanks to the mink), no black fly and to get back onto topic ... no pea moths. In Kent I reckon a quarter of my peas were unusable because of pea moth maggots, but here NONE, not one maggot in the 15 years I've been here.
All in all, I think I made the right move all those years ago.

There are downsides of course ... it's 55 miles to the nearest Te$co

[Millymollymandy]

I'd miss my red squirrel who lives in my garden (but not at walnut harvest time!) and as I rarely see deer any more cos the hunters have probably killed them it's not a great problem so I think I'll get the first boat over. OK I'd miss a few warmer days than that.......

Pulled up my first lot of mange tout and despite watering them practically every day in the last week (an 11 litre watering can for a 2 metre row) the soil had some scarily dry patches and the moisture was only in the top few inches.

Running out of water in our IBCs and water butts now despite them being full a couple of weeks ago.

No wonder you have time to shell peas Tony - I'm so knackered just keeping things watered that I can't be bothered with doing much in the way of actually cooking in the evenings. That's why sometimes I sound very despondent and talk about giving up and just buying my ruddy veg from the supermarket.

[Green Aura]

Have you thought about leaky pipes for your veg beds - might save you a few gallons and would give you time to pick your peas while they're still small enough for you to eat them.

[Millymollymandy]

I have some of them and do use them from time to time but it's better I use them for the fruit trees. They are quite difficult things to get in place (without them trashing the joint!) so once pegged in place in something like a potato or onion bed you can't just pop them in and pop out again and it's hard to weed around them. Plus most of my ground is sloping and they just don't work right on a hill!

Most of my watering time is spent doing the flower beds anyway. It's just like painting the Golden Gate bridge here!

But it does keep me cool!