Plant peas and grow them yourself successfully

Peas are a classic among vegetables that can also be grown in your own garden. But peas require a lot of care and attention.

In Germany, the classic vegetables are mostly imported from distant countries - including the cultivation the protein-rich pea is also possible in this country without any problems and the taste is fresh, of course best. The pea (Pisum sativum) is one of the oldest cultivated plants and originally comes from Asia Minor, where it was cultivated several thousand years ago. We will show you how you can successfully grow the popular pea plant in your own garden.

Growing peas: the right location

Basically, it can be said that pea plants make fewer demands on the location than many other types of vegetables. The plant grows well in a sunny spot. But even a semi-shady place is not a problem. When choosing a location, you should still take a closer look at the soil. For optimal rooting, this should not be too heavy, but humus and deep. Our

Plantura organic tomato & vegetable soil is ideal for your pea plants, for example.

Pea plants also prefer soil with a high lime and potash content - so do not choose soil that is too acidic. One point that you should definitely keep in mind is crop rotation when growing peas. The vegetable is incompatible with itself, which is why you should consider a cultivation break of 6 years. The same applies to other legumes such as beans or clover.

You should consider these points when choosing the right location for peas:

• Semi-shady to sunny place
• Humus and deep soil
• Good supply of lime and potash
• Cultivation break of 6 years after the last pea cultivation

Sow peas and multiply them yourself

The sowing peas in all their variations (wheat peas, split peas, sugar peas, field peas) usually takes place directly outdoors and requires little effort. From the end of March, sow the peas about 5 cm deep in the ground. To do this, keep a distance of 5 - 10 cm between the plants and a row spacing of 40 cm. In the case of wrinkled peas, you should only start sowing from April, when the temperatures are a little higher.

Planting out peas: the way outdoors

In cooler areas you can also prefer the peas on the windowsill. From March, sow the peas about 5 cm deep in seed pots and plant the young plants outdoors in April.

Caring for peas properly

As soon as the temperatures rise in spring, pea plants grow so fast that you can hardly keep up and produce many flowers, which later grow into tasty legumes. Despite the supposedly easy pea cultivation, you should consider a few care tips.

watering peas

Pea plants generally do not need a lot of water. Therefore, it is better to water less than too much. If you overwater the plant, it may die over time. In the long-lasting heat in summer, you should still make sure that you water it regularly.

Fertilize peas

The popular pea belongs to the legume family (Fabaceae), which, in addition to being useful as vegetables, also enrich the soil with nitrogen (legumes). This ensures that the use of additional fertilizer is not necessary for peas. A loose soil structure, which you can achieve by regularly hoeing the soil, is more important than the supply of additional nutrients. In addition, hoeing also removes unpopular weeds from the bed.

Provide peas with a climbing aid

As with most legumes, it is also a good idea to set up a climbing aid in the form of branches for the pea. Most pea varieties grow to a maximum height of 80 cm, so brushwood or hazel branches are sufficient for stabilization. Insert the branches into the space between the plants once they have reached a height of a few centimetres.

When caring for pea plants, you should heed the following tips:

• It's better to water less than too much
• No fertilization necessary due to its own nitrogen fixation
• A trellis made of branches serves as a support

Pea varieties and variations

The pea has a large number of different variations and varieties to offer for growing in your own garden. We have selected a small selection for you:

field peas (Pisum sativum L convar. speciosum (Dierb.) Alef.)

Field peas are also known as field peas or field peas. The high protein content (20-25% of dry matter) is well suited for animal feed:

• Alvesta: New variety with high grain yield and plenty of protein.
• Respect: Excellent variety with good growth; high yield with lots of protein.

wrinkled peas(Pisum sativum L. convar. medullary alef.)

wrinkled peas are usually processed by industry because of their good taste. For your own garden we recommend:

• Vitara: Very suitable variety for growing in your own garden; long harvest time, good yield and very resistant to Fusarium and powdery mildew.
• Grandera: Pea variety Grandera grows quite robust and rarely suffers from diseases; productive and particularly tasty.
• Markana: Robust variety with a compact and stable growth; requires no climbing aid; taste good.

green peas (Pisum sativum L. convar. sativum)

green peas are usually dried after harvesting and then cooked:

• Earliest May: Extremely early shell pea with good aroma and good yield.
• Little Rhinelander: Traditional and robust variety with medium to early ripening; deep green pods with quite lush kernels.
• Early Harzer: Early and proven variety with robust growth.

snow peas (Pisum sativum L. convar. axiphium Aleph.)

snow peas have no parchment layer in the pod, which is why they are also known as snow peas and are particularly tender and delicious:

• ambrosia: Well-known German variety with fleshy pods; very good aroma and high yield.
• Half high Normand: Early ripe variety with light green pods.
• Norli: A new variety; grows very compact; ideal for the balcony or terrace; good yield and good aroma.
• Vroege Hendriks: Early variety; perfect for growing in German gardens.

Further pea varieties see this article.

Harvest peas properly

Early in the year it's time for the Pea Harvest. The harvest time depends on the variety and differs by several weeks. While yellow peas can be harvested as early as May, the harvest for marrow and sugar peas starts in June. Check stocks regularly for mature specimens. They recognize the ripe legumes:

• Tactile peas in the pods
• Ripe sugar snap peas with a pod length of more than 5 cm

If the peas appear, you should not wait any longer and harvest them immediately. Otherwise, the peas may overripe and taste mealy instead of sweet.

Use, freeze and store peas

If you gradually harvest the fresh peas, it is best to prepare them fresh. We will show you how you can use the protein-rich vegetables and how best to store them if you cannot keep up with eating them fresh.

Use peas with pods

Sugar snap peas, also known as sugar snap peas, are the only type that can be eaten with a pod. In fact, botanically, the pea is not a real pod, as is often thought, but a legume. We recommend not letting them ripen for too long, otherwise they can become fibrous. Blanching in water or searing in a pan is ideal for preparation.

Peel the peas from the pods

In contrast to mangetout, it is not customary to eat the pods of pith and pear peas. You should therefore pod the peas before preparing them: Removing the peas from the pods is quick and easy. You can then compost the pods.

Store peas with and without pods correctly

Dry peas:

A classic and time-saving method to make peas last longer is to dry the peas. In principle, only marrow and plum peas are dried, as the pods are not eaten. There are several methods of drying: You can either store the pods closed after harvesting until the peas dry inside.

However, it is better to remove the peas from the pod and let them air dry for a few days. If you want it to go a little faster, you can also put the peas in the oven at low heat (50°C) for a few hours. Finally, fill the dried peas in a jar and seal it tightly.

Freezing Peas:

Freezing is very suitable for all types of peas to keep the vegetables fresh and green for months. First, briefly blanch the peas in boiling water and then rinse them off. They can then be frozen in a freezer bag or other container.

Boil peas:

A hassle-free way to store peas is to cannish them. To do this, proceed as follows: Rinse and boil a mason jar including the rubber seal properly so that there is no contamination. Pour the fresh peas into the jar, add water and seal tightly. Now boil the peas in a jar at 100 °C for about 2 hours. You can use either a pressure cooker or a water bath in the oven. A major disadvantage of canning compared to freezing is the loss of freshness of the peas. Nevertheless, the method is suitable for making the vegetables durable for several months.

More information about Harvesting and storage of peas see this article.