Quick question (probably stupid too!!)
If I think about picking the peas but then leave them longer will they get bigger and tastier or will they degrade as they get older?
Thanks again.
GF.
Interesting question GF. There's a 'perfect pea point' when the starches are still simple sugars, as the pea swells up. As soon as it reaches maturity, the sugars start to turn to starch (for storage, like a spud) - so the pea becomes less sweet and 'stodgy'. The ideal is to catch the pea just at the point where it's full of simple sugars, but has reached (or is close to) its maximum size. So picking as soon as the pod feels 'full' will result in sweeter peas.
My son has a trick for spotting ripe peas among the foliage - he wiggles the vine, and there's a certain 'swing' to the full pods. I get him to harvest all my peas now ;)
Next year I will plant enough peas from April through June to eat from June to August - my one and only sowing is over, finished, past and gone :'(
The older they get the tougher and more starchy they become. I prefer mine smaller and much much sweeter. Once the pods are swollen and drying, or you can clearly see the shape of the peas, they are really a bit tough. Perfect for drying though.
SS, I sowed some last week for autumn harvest - Fortune from Marshalls.
For some unknown reason I have trouble getting peas to germinate :-[
Out of 3 sowings I've only had 6 plants and the blasted goat has eaten 3 of them!!!
Any ideas of where I might be going wrong please???
Have tried sowing them at home indoors with little success and tried sowing in the polytunnel too but nothing came of that attempt.
Thanks E-J, I'll get those peas in! :P
Money-bunny, I used to have trouble until I pre-sprouted (12 hour soak plus a couple of days under a damp flannel) and sowed 3" apart offset when the little sprouts just start to show:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/DSCN0876.jpg)
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e220/supersprout/IMG_0020.jpg)
I also got good results from sowing three per station, 6" apart, offset :)
Thanks Supersprout I'll try that :D
I grew my peas in toilet rolls. I soaked the peas to get them going, filled the rolls with multi purpose compost and wedged them into a deep tray. I then poked a pea about ½ inch or so into the compost of each one, kept them well watered and put them on a windowsill. Once the peas were growing well, I planted them in the garden in their rolls. They all seemed to survive.
Most germinated apart from a very old pack of Victorian Climbing peas that I bought in the 1980's and found hidden in a drawer. I got about 3 plants from them but will be able to save the seed for next year. ;D
I start some off very early in the year in paper pots which I then plant out whole, 3 peas to a pot. Later I sow directly, but the critters love them and will eat an entire row, and it is very hard to tell unless you can find little holes where they have cleanly lifted them out of the ground. I think the knack is to get them germinated as quickly as possible, so I water the planting drills very well, sow the seed, then water just to settle. Hopefully, if the sun shines, they will start coming through within days.