Growing Organic Vegetables: Growing Climbing Peas

Latest Update 4th May 2020.

Climbing Peas

You can't beat organic peas harvested from your own garden and eaten the same day, they are simply delicious.
They are also very nutritious containing lots of vitamins and minerals and are a great source of dietary fibre.
When harvested, peas lose their sugars very quickly, so to preserve the sugar content, its best to cook them or freeze them for storage without delay. I often snack on them straight off the vine which is the best way to get high nutrient value.
I direct sow three double rows of climbing peas in a Ecobed 2 in June.
Ecobed 2 is dedicated to growing legumes, and by growing two crops of climbing beans and one of climbing peas every season, I am able to grow crops continuously in that bed.

Description.

Nutrition.

This food is very low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium.
It is a good source of protein, vitamin A, niacin, vitamin B6, folate, phosphorus and copper, and a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, thiamin and manganese.
More from nutrition data.self.com.

This blogpage explains how I maintain healthy plants. It describes how soil is prepared prior to planting, how to regulate the sun's intensity and how to help protect and feed plants through their leaves.

This blogpage tells you when to make compost and plan other garden/household related activities.

Growing Instructions.

Sow 20 climbing pea seeds individually in shallow drills on both sides of each of 3 1800mm lightweight twine trellises in Ecobed 2 (total of 120 seeds). Water them in with dilute seaweed extract.
The lightweight twine trellises hang between high and low cross members to provide support for these plants, and the trellis' are installed between rows 1&2, 3&4, and 5&6.
The beans weave their leaders through the twine as they grow.

Harvesting and storage

Pick the peas as soon as they fill their pods.
To avoid damaging the vines, use a pair of scissors to remove the pods.
Pick them when they are ready to use as their sugars start turning to starch within a few hours of removal.
They will stay sweet if you freeze them for storage as soon as they are picked. Just blanch (2 minutes in boiling water) the shelled peas, plunge them into cold water and dry them on paper towels. Store them immediately in a freezer in resealable plastic bags.
Allow enough pods to fully mature on the vine to save for your next years crop. The pods need to have dried out fully, turned a beige colour and gone quite hard. The peas, when removed from their pods, should have shrunk and acquired a wrinkled, pale green appearance. Store them in an airtight glass jar until you are ready to sow them.
I you have a glut, you can use surplus dried peas in soups or casseroles.
When removing spent vines after harvest, cut them off at the base leaving the roots and nitrogen fixing nodules to decompose in the soil.
I always use open pollinated pea seeds so I am able to use their offspring as "true to type" seeds to grow the following years crop.

Organic Pest Control.

Climbing Peas, like most vegetables, are vulnerable to attack from certain pests in my garden. My blog on "Controlling Garden Pests" explains a little about these pests and what to do to protect plants from them. For details click on the appropriate link below.

Growing Organic Vegetables