Organic Pea & Mange Tout Seeds  Pea (main crop)Ambassador 50 Organic Pea Seeds £0.80
|  Pea (mange tout)Oregon Sugar Pod II 50 Organic Mange Tout Seeds SORRY, CURRENTLY OUT OF STOCK | | | | |
- Ambassador (main crop)
- Oregon Sugar Pod II (mange tout)
Sowing Instructions
Main crop and mange tout peas are grown in exactly the same way.
Sow: from March 2.5cm deep, 10cm apart in a sunny or part shaded, fairly sheltered spot in soil which has had plenty of home-made organic compost dug into it. Protect your newly planted seeds if mice are a problem in your garden! Alternatively, peas may be sown indoors on a window sill or in a greenhouse from late February, preferably in a coir pot, so as to avoid root disturbance. Harden off then just plant the seedling, coir pot and all, into the final growing position.
Aftercare: Provide some kind of support system, using canes/netting, to allow the curly tendrils to cling on as the plant grows. Pinch out the growing tip when it reaches the top of the support to encourage side shoots. Continue to water well. No feeding should be necessary, but mulching with a good layer of organic matter will help to retain moisture.
Harvest: Main crop peas, like Ambassador, are delicious when they are slightly immature, roughly 3 weeks after flowering. Pods should be harvested from the bottom of the plant upwards. Mange tout, like Oregon Sugar Pod II, should be picked when their pods are crisp and bright green and as flat as possible. Regular picking, a couple of times a week, will encourage the plant to continue producing and extend the season.
Tip: Peas, like beans and other legumes, extract nitrogen from the air and store it in their roots. When your pea harvest is finished, chop the plant off at soil level, and either leave or dig in the roots. As they decompose they’ll enrich the soil by releasing nitrogen back into it!
Cooking Tips
Peas quickly lose their flavour so, either, take a well-earned rest and enjoy them raw, straight from the pod or, if they make it as far as the kitchen, peas and mange tout are delicious lightly boiled for 2-3 minutes or steamed for 5-6 minutes.
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