Peas Please Me


It doesn't take a lot to make me a happy bunny and yesterday's mail contained just the thing to get my week off to a good start: my free packs of peas for this year's RHS trial. I'll be growing mange tout Oregon Sugar Pod which I usually grow, and the new kid on the block for me is Sugar Ann, a sugarsnap pea. According to the packet Oregon Sugar Pod grows to 3 feet - as usual the plants I grow don't read the manual as mine frequently reach twice that size. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

The RHS are also asking for help in their winter-hardy survey 2008-2009, so there's a possibility some good will come out of all those tender plants we've lost over the winter. The survey is due in late spring - to give those dead looking plants every chance to come back to life - but you can start to compile some of the details needed now. Have a look at the RHS changing climate page for further information.

And finally whilst we're on the topic of making good out of bad, if you didn't watch Darwin's Garden recently you might not be aware of the MegaLab survey. This is looking at how tiny changes seen in the banded snail might be affected by climate change and the density of their main predator, the thrush. For starters I was surprised to find the yellow and stripy snails in my garden are in fact the same species - I'm still working through all the fascinating information on the website before conducting my own garden investigation.

Comments

  1. emmat7 April 2009 at 08:52

    What do you grow your mange tout up? (or sugar snaps, depending) For some reason I imagine they'd be harder than real peas but is that true? xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. VP7 April 2009 at 08:56

    I have a double row of hazel poles (lightly coppiced from the allotment hedgerow) with netting for them to scramble up.

    They're easy peasy to grow and yummy to eat!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dave7 April 2009 at 09:07

    Yay I got mine yesterday as well and just came in to work to find the email with the trial report form.
    Have to see how I do! Again thanks for the tip off and good luck to everyone taking part.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dave7 April 2009 at 09:07

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anna7 April 2009 at 10:02

    I must have a go at this one day VP. I have an irrational feeling though that if I participate in anything like this that the seeds will not flourish :) I sowed my purple podded peas yesterday and have other peas to put in later. Thanks for the information about the survey.

    ReplyDelete
  6. easygardener7 April 2009 at 11:06

    I always grow climbing mange-tout or snap peas. There was the embarrassing time I erected a 6 foot tall area of netting only to find I'd misread the height and they stopped at 3 feet max. They did look rather sad!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Carrie7 April 2009 at 11:46

    oh oh, i got free seeds from the council today to say thanks for renewing out plot lease - wasn't that nice?!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Monica the Garden Faerie7 April 2009 at 13:47

    It's cool you are trialing stuff for RHS. That sounds like fun. I'm funny about peas--I like them mixed in with other foods, as in Indian and Asian food, but the only way I like my peas on their own is as mushy peas. Oh, why don't Americans know mushy peas?!?!?!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Unknown7 April 2009 at 14:17

    I planted some peas in my seed starter trays. I think I may just be better off starting some of them outside though. They were growing so well and then I put up a light. Apparently it was a bit strong for them....

    Good luck with your trial.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Arabella Sock7 April 2009 at 20:54

    I've looked in two Garden Centres for mange tout seeds and couldn't find them. I wondered if they had gone out of fashion. We grew them years ago and they were really easy and productive as I remember. I thought I'd have another go this year.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Amanda7 April 2009 at 21:01

    I once made the mistake of growing mangetout back-to-back with regular peas. They intertwined and then I wasn't sure which was which, without tracing each plant back down to the base. Now I make sure that there's clear earth between them, so that I can be sure I'm not picking peas when they look like mangetout!

    ReplyDelete
  12. VP7 April 2009 at 21:15

    Dave - great. It'll be good to compare notes via my posts perhaps?

    Anna - I'm worried that may happen too - my success with mange tout has been variable, but then that adds authenticity to the trial!

    EG - I think you were wise to do so bearing in mind how mine usually grow to twice the length stated on the packet!

    Carrie - what a fantastic council - wish ours did the same. Good to see you out and about again.xx

    Monica - perhaps I need to research mushy peas for you and publish a recipe. From my time on a pea farm as a student I seem to recall they're made from overripe peas. We love peas in things like curries too :p

    Cinj - that's too bad, though I'm sure your idea about a second sowing will work too :)

    Arabella - umm, I think I might have some to spare, seeing I have a packet of 300 and one of 250...

    Amanda - that's sound advice. At least with Oregon Sugar Pod you can also harvest them as peas as well as mange tout!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter,
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi
Read more