Sow pea now and enjoy an early harvest

Do your kids love fresh peas picked right from your garden? Of course they do! Peeling the pods and pulling out the sweet green balls is lot of fun, but in order for children to enjoy fresh peas, you should sow as soon as possible. Harvesting fresh peas is often associated with the beginning of summer and you should not postpone sowing until the end of April. Especially, if you live in a warmer climate you can sow now. Hopefully, no unexpected harsh frosts will hit and you will enjoy an early harvest… Pea sowing is not complicated but we shall also look at some pea sowing rules.

Pea sowing

Peas should be soaked before sowing to ensure that they “swell”. The distance between individual rows should be about 15 cm and about 5 cm between individual peas – or a little more, depending how dense you want to grow.Make holes and put individual pea seeds inside. We put two peas in one hole. Make sure that the soil is constantly moist. Seeds should germinate in about 14 days. After that seedlings appear and you need to support them. We used few sticks with strings.

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Soil and the right location for pea

Legumes are plants that have very few demands on so soil, so even poorer soil will be sufficient. But make sure the soil is light and not compacted. A suitable upper soil layer is important, because peas have relatively shallow roots and they must take a good root. Fertilizing with nitrogen is not necessary.We do not fertilize peas in any way. Peas can be grown alone with radishes, courgettes (zucchini), cucumbers or carrots but do not mix it with onions, tomatoes or potatoes.

Photo: Radek Štěpán

A tough plant that needs plenty of water

Peas are quite tough and can withstand temperatures slightly below freezing. It can deal with -3°C but not below that. You can protect peas against sudden low temperatures if you cover it with a non-woven fabric. Pea grows relatively quickly, if the temperature ranges between 14 and 18 °C. If temperatures are already high at the end of spring you need to provide sufficient watering. If you fail to do so, flowering and pods will form later. Drought will kill your plants mainly because of its shallow root system which cannot get enough water from lower layers.

Photo: Radek Štěpán

Americans love sweet peas

Just an interesting piece of information. Sweet pea is eaten whole, including the pods. In Europe, we mainly grow green peas, where we only consume the peas (seeds).

YouTube: Radek Štěpán

Preview photo: Pixabay