Peas for next month

[chrispea27]

ref parrafin garages usually sell it or BQ or Wilkos
Thanks

[chrispea27]

[calendula]

Mmm.. I'm still out on whether to plant any peas winter or spring - I had terrible bean weevil and got a few mange tout - the rest were mowed down by bean weevil/pigeons.... maybe I should plant in the greenhouse??  When do we harvest??

Jitterbug

there are so many choices but basically divided into earlies, main crop and lates - all you have to do is select when you want them and sow accordingly - earlies I start off in modules in the green house late feb early march but you have to watch for any bad weather that might come your way regarding planting out - harvest may/june

they don't like the soil to be too acid and you need a lot of seeds to get a decent crop so if you love peas I would suggest you sow successionally  :)

someone suggested 'Misty' - they are a very early variety and fabulous

peas are great for successional sowing so in late march early april you'd be sowing more to harvest in August and then a late sowing in June for an autumn crop (or there abouts as it isn't an exact science)

[Weed-Digga]

If I sow peas and broad beans in November, do I need to cover them with cloches or are they winter hardy? Sorry, still not very clear.

[calendula]

it is an ongoing debate this about whether to bother sowing peas or beans in the late autumn for an early crop 'cos early spring sowing can be just as easy, you miss the really hungry mice and the worst of the weather etc etc but to answer your question more specifically I would tend to cloche as this will keep the worst of the weather off and the birds/rabbits and will keep them a bit more cosy but mice will often still be a problem - however certain varieties (make sure you pick the right ones) are hardy - you just never know what weather we'll be getting - having them locked into an iced up piece of land doesn't do them that good  :(

[Weed-Digga]

Thanks Calendula, think I might use a green manure in the bed now and wait until Spring to plant the peas and broad beans then.

[kitten]

Thanks calendula, i was going to ask about whether to cloche or not to cloche.  Think i'll cover with the trusty squash bottles and hope for the best.  ;D

[glosterwomble]

If I sow peas and broad beans in November, do I need to cover them with cloches or are they winter hardy? Sorry, still not very clear.

Our plot neighbours sowed their broad beans around this time last year (maybe a couple weeks later) and they had a fantastic early crop. I sowed mine in the spring and had nightmare problems with blackfly even though I pinched out the tops. Guess which method I'm doing this year!  ::)

[Jitterbug]

I also grew Witkiem last Autumn and had a wonderful crop long before the blackfly became a problem.  The rest of my broadbean crop was dismal and overun with blackfly.  So I will definitely sow Autumn broad beans. I covered with fleece in a very protected area.  I think I will sow this years crop in the old horse manure heap was - the ground should be very rich will just give it a good dig up with the rotovator.  I see next  Friday and Saturday are good days for sowing. (moon calendar).

Kind regards

Jitterbug

[Pigletwillie]

Last year I autumn sowed 3 double rows of aquadulce and come spring had transplanted the survivors into 1 double row, the pigeons and weather nailed the rest.

This year I sowed Witkiem Vroma in pots in early march and had a fab crop, the best ever with little blackfly as I grow sacrificial nasturtiums at the ends of the rows and blackfly prefer these.

As for peas, The two or three weeks difference you get from an autumn sowing compared to a spring sowing is not worth the effort with cloching, netting and all the rest of the palava in my opinion. I prefer to sow come the better weather and the peas respond by yielding far more than the weather beaten autumn sown ones.

I suppose it all depends on how desperate you are for those fresh peas and how patient you are. I know I suffer from "get the seed sownitis" along with the best of them. Now that mild winters seem to be the norm it may start being a good option.

[Andy H]

Weed-digga, welcome to A4A

I used a green manure last year and it worked really well.