Green peas

The ultimate way to enjoy peas is straight from the pod, says PHIL DUDMAN. Here are his tips for the best varieties to grow and how to ensure a good crop

Remember the good old days, sitting around the kitchen table shelling peas, popping a few of those sweet green bullets into your mouth as you shared the latest news? When I was a kid, it was a great way for parents to get their kids involved in the cooking while sneaking some extra greens into their diet and encouraging them to reveal what was happening at school.

Then along came frozen peas, parking this artful pleasure into the distant past. Frozen peas had a devastating effect on flavour, too. They make a fair backup, but barely compare to the taste of a plump pod plucked straight off the vine. This is when you truly fall in love with peas. If you’ve tried freshly picked sugar snap peas, the ones you eat pod and all, you know that’s a whole other level of pea-love euphoria.

Peas are space savers in the garden because they grow upwards, and dwarf varieties can be grown in pots. Like other podded leguminous plants, peas have the remarkable ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere to help them grow. They don’t ask for much but sure have a lot to give!

getting started

Peas thrive in cool conditions with daytime temperatures of 15–24°C, so now is an ideal time in most areas to plant. They like plenty of sun – more sun means more pods – but hate being knocked around, so give them protection from blustering winter winds.

Above all, peas must have well-drained soil rich in organic matter. In existing beds, I spread 3–5cm of compost on the surface in a row 30–40cm wide and plant into that. If you have heavy soil, make the compost layer 10cm deep, or 15cm if starting a bed from scratch. For pots, choose one 40cm wide, and fill with premium potting mix.

You can buy seedlings, but peas grow readily from seed. Having a pack of seed also makes it easy to sow follow-up crops every 3–4 weeks, so you can have a steady supply of pods over the growing season.

Sow seed 3–5cm deep and about 5cm apart. Water once and water well, then don’t water again until shoots appear in 5–10 days. Too much moisture rots pea seeds, and a few days of wet weather can destroy the lot. As a precaution, I sow them in multicell punnets, 2–3 seeds per cell, and put them under cover when it rains. They need regular watering in punnets, but wait for the mix to dry out before watering.

training & harvesting

Climbing peas need to cling to something. Make a trellis from an old galvanised fence panel, bamboo poles or twine tied vertically to a frame, or try a teepee made from thin tree branches. The support should be about 2m tall. Baby shoots need help finding their support, otherwise they just run along the ground, so insert twigs next to seedlings. Dwarf types only grow 40–70cm tall. To support these peas, stagger the plants in double rows, bang a stake in each corner and wrap twine around the outside.

Gradually increase watering as they grow. You need to keep peas consistently moist for top-quality pods. Lay down some mulch or a little more compost to help trap moisture in the soil. Pinch out the growing tips when plants are 20–30cm tall, to encourage branching and higher yields.

Peas start cropping about 12 weeks after sowing. Check plants daily and pick pods when they are just plump – young ones are sweet and old ones tough and bitter. To save seed for next year’s crop, let a few pods dry on the vine and store seed in sealed jars in a cool, dark spot.