‘Feltham First’ Peas Planted February 3, 2008

 

I thought i’d take the opportunity to sow some peas today. I know they won’t come up yet but it’s nice to get them in the ground and get a plant label in (i got some nice new wooden ones for Christmas..which will slowly disappear as the plants grow!). I planted a variety called ‘Feltham First.’ It can be planted in Autumn but i have chosen to put it in prior to Spring and I’m keeping it covered until the weather warms up a little. Either way, another row or two will go in, in March. I’m assuming that as the temps warm up, that won’t take long to catch up.

I planted 2 rows of the peas 5cm apart and about a metre between rows. The theory is that the rows should be the same distance apart as the plants grow high…if that makes sense. I also planted a few seeds in some old guttering so that if i have any gaps, these can be filled by the spares. I’m not sure how i will support the plants yet. I think it will depend on if i can get hold of some sturdy hazel sticks, otherwise it will just be canes i feel, with some sort of netting strung between them.

As you can see from the delicious waste above, before i planted the peas, i dug a nice deep trench and filled it with the a mixture from our kitchen caddy. This has been slowly rotting over the last week and filled the trench nicely. It’s mostly veg peelings, crushed eggshells and teabags.  I added some organic fertiliser slow release pellets to this. The roots will have a nice supply of goodness as they grow as peas like a deeply dug rich soil.

I really wanted to put the mange-tout in but am going to hold off until the start of March i think so that i don’t have to give them any protection.