Allotments 4 All

It's the year of the pea for me  :D  which is lovely, except they've all decided to crop really close together despite successional sowing and I'd like to try and spread them out a bit.

Question is, if I crop my purple podded tall one as mange tout, will it extend its cropping season like picking French beans young or will it give up?  

I understand the Purple Podded is a nice one to eat as mange tout.  I've also got Alderman and Ultra-U (I think - freebie packet), do they work as mange tout too!!

I don't like mange tout very much but my tall peas are flowering big time and podding up and I've got two thickets of first earlies cropping right now simultaneously and my Hurst Greenshaft are also in full bloom.  

Help, I'm drowning in peas.......what a lovely way to go  ;)

Hi earlypea,

I haven't grown the varieties you mention, but because I have very little space (no allotment), I treat all my peas as mangetouts, harvesting them at the flat pod stage. If you're snowed under, you'll be saved a lot of podding time.  ;)

I would taste each variety and see which you prefer as flat pods...

Spudbash

I just freeze extras within minutes of picking.

Thanks for replying.

But, really I just wanted to know if it extends cropping if you pick them as mange-tout.  I guess I'll have to try it on some selected pea plant and see.

Like I say, don't especially like mange-tout anyhow, would much prefer mature peas but not all at once.

No space, small freezer.

There are lots of peas sold as generic 'Purple Podded', but they're all different varieties. You'll have to try them and see. All peas can be eaten as mangetout when they're small, before they develop the hard lining to the pod.