🫛 Pea

Peas are sweet and tender when picked fresh, and the sugars start turning to starch the moment they are harvested, which is why homegrown peas taste so different from shop-bought ones. They are easy to grow, and the crops include shelling peas, mangetout and sugar snap types.

Varieties range from dwarf types ideal for pots to tall climbers that need supports. Pea shoots, the young tips, are also delicious in salads and stir-fries, and can be grown on a windowsill in winter.

Varieties to try

Kelvedon Wonder (early, reliable, medium height)Hurst Green Shaft (heavy cropping, good flavour)Oregon Sugar Pod (mangetout)Sugar Ann (dwarf sugar snap)Meteor (hardy, for autumn sowing)Douce Provence (sweet, early, overwintering)

Sow from March to June, in succession every 2–3 weeks, directly into well-prepared soil. Make a flat-bottomed trench about 15 cm wide and 4–5 cm deep, scatter seeds 5 cm apart, and cover with soil. Sow in a double row for support and a better crop. Water the trench first if dry.

Cold, wet soil can rot seed, so start earlier sowings in lengths of guttering in a greenhouse or cold frame, and slide them into a trench later. Hardy overwintering varieties can be sown in October to November under cloches. Mice love pea seeds, so protect with netting or mesh.

Top tips

• Sow every 2–3 weeks for a long harvest.
• Sow in a wide, flat trench.
• Protect seed from mice.
• Start early crops in guttering.

Provide support as soon as seedlings appear: use pea netting, twiggy sticks (pea sticks) or canes with string. Tall varieties need a 1.8 m support; dwarf types need less. Water well during flowering and pod-swelling, and mulch to hold moisture.

Pea moth, whose caterpillars feed within the pods, can be avoided by sowing early or late, so peas flower outside June–July, or by covering with fine mesh. Birds sometimes eat young shoots; cover with netting. Powdery mildew appears in dry late summers.

Top tips

• Support plants early.
• Water well when flowering.
• Cover with mesh against pea moth.
• Net against birds.

Watch out for

Pea mothMice (eat seeds)BirdsPowdery mildewPea and bean weevil

Pick shelling peas when the pods are well filled but still bright green and the peas are still sweet, around 11–14 weeks from sowing. Mangetout are picked when flat and 6–7 cm long, and sugar snaps when the peas have just formed. Pick regularly, as this keeps the plants flowering.

Hold the plant with one hand and pull the pod off with the other so you don’t pull up the plant. After the final harvest, cut plants at the base and leave the roots in the soil, where nitrogen-rich nodules will feed the next crop.

Top tips

• Pick every day or two at peak.
• Pick before pods turn dull and tough.
• Leave roots in the soil.
• Pick in the morning for best flavour.

Eat peas raw straight from the pod, steam or boil for two to three minutes, or add to risottos, pasta, soups and salads. Mangetout and sugar snaps are good raw or in stir-fries. Pea shoots are delicious in salads and as a garnish.

Peas turn starchy within hours, so cook them on the day. Freeze surplus peas quickly: shell, blanch for one minute, cool in iced water, drain and freeze on a tray before bagging. They keep for a year. For dried peas, leave the pods on the plant until brown and rattling, then shell and dry.

Top tips

• Blanch for one minute before freezing.
• Cook within hours of picking.
• Add pea shoots to salads.
• Cook just two or three minutes.