Whatever sort of peas you like, the good news is they're one of the things you can get into the garden nice and early. They don't mind the odd late frost (you can actually plant them in late autumn and winter and they'll just sit and grow slowly until spring) and they do best in cooler conditions. They're what's sometimes referred to as a shoulder season crop - they prefer spring and autumn to the harsh heat of summer.
So now's the time to plant your peas! My favourite sort of pea is a mange-tout which, as the name suggests, is the sort you can eat pod and all. They're great for stir-fries but I love to graze on them as I'm gardening, so they almost never make it into the house. My favourite variety is Goliath, a snow pea that grows tall and strong, crops prolifically and actually has a fairly good resistance to powdery mildew, the bane of all peas.
I've got these available for you in my Bigbunny shop on Felt, along with a couple of varieties of podding peas - the sturdy old Victorian Alderman Tall, a bumper cropper, and Dutch Blue, which has the most gorgeous mauve flowers and zany purple pods.
And if you prefer your peas flowering rather than edible, I've even got sweet peas - a lovely mix of heritage varieties that just keep self-seeding in my garden each year with almost no input from me. You can't beat them for stunning colour and glorious scent.
So whatever sort of peas please you, get planting - seize the day! It only takes a few minutes and you'll be glad you did when you're harvesting those gorgeous pods for tea, nibbling on them as you garden or enjoying the sweet scent of gorgeous heirloom flowers.
Hmmm, maybe I'll just plant some more - you can never have too many!
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