feedback on peas and new ideas needed

[Svea]

just a quick note - my peas are lovely (kelvedon wonder i think) but what bothers me is that they dont actually produce all that much. take my broad beans. they are growing on a 4'x4' plot, i have a good number of plants and am getting a good harvest from them - enough for a few meals over a period  of time for two people. the peas occupy the same sort of space, about the same number of plants - and i just cant see how they will be able to produce more than one meal's worth.

the question is: do you have any better varieties for me to try next year that will have a higher yield? i dont mind the plants being a little later, either - i have this space available til the autumn. would climbing ones be a better choice? double the amount of peas on the same size plot?

in other news, i have two 4x4 areas clear atm - apart from scorzonera, nothing else is missing though.  so, what to plant? more french beans are always a possibility - i love them a lot and dont mind freezing  some, either.
but what else?

i already grow all the usual suspects - pots, toms, peppers, cucs, squashes, courgettes, aubs, various brassicas

is here a quick growing onion i could grow between now and the autumn? either from seeds or from sets? the overwintering ones i did are lovely but they wont last too long in all honesty. red varieties preferred.

any other ideas?

thanks all :)

[Svea]

[saddad]

Older pea varieties which climb give a better return, and Mangetout / sugar snap are even better as you eat the pod as well! Alderman is probably the only tall pea you will still find. We grow a heritage variety "Magnum Bonum" whose vines can reach over 9' and crop heavily over several weeks. Also purple podded and Oregon Sugar pod.



these make great mangetout when very small, and acceptable fresh peas but are a bit dull as cooked from frozen... a round rather starchy pea....

? How do you get Scorzonera to germinate?

[SMP1704]

Svea

How many peas did you sow?

I started off with half a pack of Feltham First, which gave me about 30 plants.  I was feeling very pleased with myself until an experienced allotmenteer informed me that he had just put in 3 packets :o and usually expected to harvest about 30lbs of peas ;D ;D

That made my attempts look pretty pathetic, so I pre-germinated the rest of the packet and bought another pack of Kelvedon Wonder and pre-germed the whole lot.   I now have 5x4 ft rows of Felthams and 2x8 ft rows of KW.   I don't expect to match 30lbs but with the volume of plants now and succession, I would expect to be able to harvest enough for several meals.

[cleo]

saddad has pretty much summed it up-I might suggest Hurst Green shaft as a good pea as well.

Scorzenera,and salsify,should germinate easily-but watch for snails and slugs-they might have nipped them before you even noticed they were up

[Svea]

well, that is an interesting point, but unless i totally ignore spacing guides (i usually half all the spacings given on seed packs anyways) i cant see how i can possibly grow enough pea plants to give me said wonderful huge crop.

i just havent got more than 4x4foot of space to dedicate to it.

i reckon climbing peas might be the way forward for next year. dad, what heritage varieties do you recommend, and where do you get them? i am after a pea that works as mangetout as well as fresh peas - boiled in the normal way is only really secondary

as to the scorzonera, they do take a while, but usually they come up fine. two or three seeds to the station.

[cleo]

Svea-hope you do not mind my butting in but please don`t look for a compromise-the best peas are grown as peas and mangetout are best eaten young-once the `peas` get to any size the pod is past it`s best and the peas will not have the flavour you want

[Simon05]

saddad,

where do you buy the Magnum Bonum and purple podded variaties from?

[supersprout]

Agree with cleo, mangetout might give you the heaviest pea-tasting crop. If you grow a tray of pea sprouts by your back door you will always have the taste of fresh peas in your salad.
This year I am growing a blue and a yellow mangetout, only at flowering stage, but have great hopes ::)
Do you grow beans for drying? Either climbing or bush, I get great results with borlotti :)
IMHO Franchi's are far and away the tastiest :P

[saddad]

Svea as a mangetout I find Oregon Sugar Pod, widely available, pretty good. Heritage peas are a bit tricky, not being on the national list and all that. I have Magnum Bonum, got from Heritage Seed Library at HDRA (Garden Organic) Coventry but you only get ten or twenty and have to bulk them up yourself, and Purple podded as in the picture, I'm a bit low on stock at the moment, having given lots away. If you PM me might be able to send twenty of each, but can get mildew if sown after 1st July. That should provide @ 100 of each for next season.

[Svea]

i am also growing climbing french beans atm.

any other ideas for the two spare 4x4 areas, people?

[saddad]

I quite like sugar loaf Chicory Svea, and there are some good winter lettuce not just density, pod radish are quite fun, it is not to late to sow salad mixes and most chinese brassicas eg Pak Choi, but watch out for flea beetle. I find Lakeland (iceberg type) lettuce OK up to August.....

[redimp]

Is there anything here that takes your fancy?
http://www.realseeds.co.uk/peas.html

[saddad]

Thanks Redclanger, had no trouble spending £8 there!