Peas

Green peas are one of the best plant-based sources of protein, which is a major reason why they are so filling, along with their high amount of fiber.

There is different varieties of peas

  1. Marv Peas
    Marv Peas are the most common in the gardens. There is a variety of varieties with heights ranging from 40-50 cm and up to a few meters. The low and medium highs are the easiest to pick.
  2. Sugar peas
    Sugar peas do not have the cool impediments in the pods and you can eat them whole. You have to harvest while the pods are still flat and brittle. The varieties range from 40 to 75 cm high.

Why eat and grow 

Peas calorie content is low and come carbs and protein. Furthermore, peas contain just about every vitamin and mineral you need, in addition to a significant amount of fiber.

As with other legumes, peas will fix nitrogen in the soil, making it more available for other plants. In return, they require little extra fertility to grow and produce pods. This makes them a great companion plant, too.

Cooking and use.

Usually you eat pea’s fresh, but if you harvest many you can freeze them down. I like them as topping on different dishes. They taste great with carrots, cauliflower and beans

Cultivation of Peas

Remember that pea plants that have limited growing season.

The key to growing peas is to plant them early enough in spring so they mature while the weather is still cool. A second round of peas can be planted in the late summer or early fall.

Select a sunny location. While peas can grow in part shade, they will not be as sweet or productive as those grown in fully sun.

Soil must drain well. One of the few downfalls of growing peas is seed rot. Add compost to the planting site.

You put the seeds in 5-6 cm deep grooves in the soil, 5-8 cm apart. For the sake of later binding, it is a good idea to sow in double rows with a distance of 10-20 cm. You should sow the next double row about 50 cm away from the previous one, so you can come in and pick the peas.

The birds - especially the pigeons - love the freshly sown seeds and the newly sprouted peas. Therefore, cover the pea with branches or wire mesh until the plants are about 10 cm high.

Water sparsely unless the plants are wilting. If the weather is dry, water them periodically. Do not let plants dry out, or no pods will be produced.

Binding

Once germinated, peas will climb a fence or trellis to anywhere between 60 cm and 250 cm tall, depending on the sort.

The simplest form of binding is to prune twigs from pruning trees and shrubs into the soil on both sides of the double row. It is sufficient for peas with a height of 60-70 cm. A neat braid of bamboo, hazel or willow sticks between the double rows can make the pea bed a very decorative feature in the kitchen garden.

On the other hand, you can stick sticks in the ground at the end of the rows of peas and pull threads, cords or wire mesh between them and between the double rows. It also provides stable attachment for the meter-high varieties of peas.