I have grown peas before with some success.
Does anybody have any suggestions for getting the most out of 6' X 6' bed? It's all I can spare at the moment. I have purchased two varieties, Avola and Kelvedon Wonder.
They need to be constantly damp under foot, being in Cork that shouldn't be a problem... support helps a lot... we start ours off rather than sow direct..
Been a lot of talk about peas recently.. use search if it works for you or scroll back..
saddad
;D
I've got some peas, so will probably do what you do saddad and start off indoors - our soils a bit lumpy for sowing direct, so most of my outdoor direct sow stuff is being sown indoors
This is how I sow mine; http://tinyurl.com/2wk6ft in this way I ensure I have no gaps in my rows.
I don't think there is is anything worse particularly if you are short of space to have gaps in a row.
Plus it lets you get off to bit of an early start and beats any field mice problems.
http://tinyurl.com/2t6yvb
I would avoid filling the whole bed immediately as you will end up with a glut of peas, why not plant 2 rows of each now and two of each in 3 weeks of so. You can see mine on
http://www.allaboutliverpool.com/allaboutallotments_Vegetables_peas.html
Sow successionally and pick your varieties with care.
I like Twinkle, Celebration and Early Onward for first crops, then Onward, Jaguar and Hurst Greenshaft, which all seem to crop quickly.
Seems to me that if you've got a nice rich bed to use, you could keep sowing and picking throughout the season. Sometimes start mine off by putting them in a seed tray (the entire packet, will nilly) covering with moist compost, waiting for them to start sprouting, (have a poke around and look, they don't take more than a week) then planting them as soon as they've germinated, I don't wait for them to produce leaves etc, I just scatter the germinated seeds in the drill.
I wouldnt sow successionaly in such a small space I would fill it to the max, harvest and freeze excess remove the peas and then stick something else in the space. This could even be a second batch of peas brought on in guttering/trays. You may also benefit from growing a more prolific taller variety such as Alderman but watch that it doesnt shade other plants
Glow
Thanks for the response. Plenty to think about.