Pea shoots

[seasidegirl]

Anyone tried growing these? I've just sowed my first batch yesterday in pots with some excess pea seeds.

Apparently its a trendy new food that celeb chefs are raving out but I tried them a few years ago when I worked in an independant health store. You can eat the young shoots of the pea plant raw, chopped up in salad, or stir fry them.

Nutritious and very tasty.

[Silver Ether]

We do this when our mange tout are growing, in fact I like the shoots and young leaves better than the peas.

[seasidegirl]

Does it affect the growth of the plants or the yield? I've never grown peas successfully but have grown zillions of sweet peas and pinching out the tips makes a stronger plant.

Cheers

[Silver Ether]

We use them when the plants are quite big so not really noticed.

[chadspad]

Speaking of peas, I always grows hundreds of them but theyre never that big - theyre short and never need the canes that I put here just incase. Is it lack of water or lack of space thats likely to do that?

[Millymollymandy]

I've just sown peas and mange tout this morning, for the first time. Do they get covered in black fly like broad beans? In which case I won't be eating any of their shoots.

[chadspad]

Hey M3, ive never suffered from black fly - just tiny plants lol. Do peas like manure or not - maybe thats where Im going wrong. Although I do think I plant them too closely cos I have so many of them

[Millymollymandy]

My packet of mange tout says 'pas de fumier frais', but then you wouldn't put fresh horse muck on any veg.

[Silver Ether]

We used to grow mange tout a lot .. but the ones we have grown the last two years grow above 6 foot high never had that before.

[chadspad]

Blimey wish mine would! Im lucky if I get an inch plant with 2 pods on

[seasidegirl]

The ones I'm growing are purely for the pea shoots. Just threw a handful into a small post of compost. Reckon they'll be edible in a couple of weeks. The peas I've sown in the garden at the same time aren't even visible.

No worries of blackfly etc and you don't have to wait so long.

[seasidegirl]

Good demo on this blog

http://www.pennygolightly.com/tag/grow ... ea-shoots/

[Mrs Moustoir]

A lot of the French pea varieties are little "petit pois" types and in my experience, these are not quite as vigorous as the Brit varieties. They are much smaller plants.

The only problem I find with growing peas is that they rarely make it to the kitchen as the kids and I like to scoff them raw straight from the pods.

No black fly, but we sometimes get pea moth larvae in the pods. Look out for little white maggotty things in high summer similar to the ones you get on blackberries(sorry MMM!).

[Millymollymandy]

Oh cheers Mrs M how will I know if they are inside the pea or not? I'm only growing them this year for my hubby as I don't like peas but I'm willing to try them fresh and see. Normally I only eat the tinned ones which have a khaki colour and don't resemble the frozen or fresh ones!

Love mange tout though and looking forward to growing them. You can get both climbing and dwarf varieties Silver Ether. I chose the dwarf ones for space though I think picking is probably easier from climbing ones.

I have a pile of 'piggy twee sticks' ready and waiting (that's what I call them!).

[Mrs Moustoir]

Pea moth evidence - a tiny hole in the pod and then inside - fine cobwebby stuff and/or an obvious maggot. Yuk!

My OH loves those khaki tinned peas as well!

My pea seedlings are doing well this year as they're NOT in greenhouse. Last year I lost loads of pea seeds and even seedlings to mice.