grow | peas
By MEREDITH KIRTON
Growing instructions for the
Grow Harvest Cook Give-away Snap Pea seeds
Peas are normally sown in autumn or winter, but can be sown into early spring in cold areas like Tasmania and even into summer in areas where it doesn’t get too hot. They like a soil that drains well, and if it’s too acidic, add some lime and dig over well prior to planting.
Plant pea seeds directly where they grow every 5cm or so and then gently firm them down into the soil. The soil should be well dug and pre-moistened, but then not watered for a few days as you can easily rot the seeds. Protect the emerging seedlings from birds with some sticks or netting, as they can develop a taste for young pea shoots!
These snap peas need support so are ideal growing on 1.5m tall stakes to help support them. These can be structured in a tripod or an A-frame run, or even cross hatched like a lattice. If possible run this north to south so they get the most sun possible.
Peas take about 8-10 weeks to start cropping, and the more you pick the more you get, so pick regularly. At the end of your pea season, dig your pea stalks back into the ground and you’ll enrich your soil with not only organic matter, but also nitrogen, as peas have a magical way of using special nodules on their roots to take nitrogen from the air and turn it into a plant useable form.
Tags: planting, seeds, snap peas, vegetables
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13Nov
We have just completed our first attempt at organic growing of vegetables, so now I know to put in fennel and beetroot and snap peas. thanks for the information