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Posted by Gem (U13964749) on Monday, 12th April 2010
Anyone who watched the edible garden last week will have seen the planting of dried peas for pea shoots. I bought some quick soak dried peas from sainsbury on Saturday of 32p, planted about 1/4 of them sat PM and left them in the GH, this morning they are shooting, at this rate I will be able to have my first crop of pea shoots for the weekend
Gem
HI Gem I saw that too and have just found a packet of dried peas in my cupboard and am going to give it a try. Dried peas seem to keep for planting for a long time, I'm sure she said the sell by date on hers was 2007 and she was still sowing them they were growing.
I've bought some too - 24p in Morrisons - at that price you can't lose really! Just planted ordinary peas too for full grown plants so will be interested to see which comes up first.
I sowed some in box the other day too presumably once you snipped off the tips once you just leaves them until they grow again....and so on ? until what/when exactly, what are the signs of them being finished ?
If it's not too daft a question.
I thought this was a great idea as well.
The only ones I could find were dried marrowfat peas & wasn't sure they were right!
I also wasn't sure about quick soak ones, so it's good to hear they seem to be working fine, maybe that's why they were so quick!
I also wonder if they would re-grow once cut or if you have to sow more each time.
I assume you just keep cutting and they grow again, but if they show signs of giving up there is more than enough in the packet to sow some more.
I'm dying to taste them
Gem
I looked for dried peas in Sainsburys when I did my shopping last Saturday but they don't sell them in my local. I was wondering if people down south don't eat dried peas?
I use these all the time the marrow fat ones .Taste is fantastic and you get a full pod of peas as well as the shoots.Just sow the full box in open ground you get better results then from the ones in the packet ie onward .
, in reply to message 8.
Posted by martingodliman (U13761957) on Wednesday, 14th April 2010
Are you all keeping you sown boxes indoors ? I just realized mines outside I guess I'd better put in the cold frame or something.
, in reply to message 9.
Posted by 4smilingcat6 (U14338727) on Wednesday, 14th April 2010
Pea shoots always remind me of my late friend Sarah(mulchmad/supersprout). She was the one who introduced me to them.
, in reply to message 10.
Posted by martingodliman (U13761957) on Wednesday, 14th April 2010
I just checked on the iplayer....somewhere warm ! I'll bring 'em in.
Hi,
I'm visiting from the food boards - would it be alright for me to post a link to this discussion please as I'm sure it would be interesting to a lot of the food board members.
Thank you
I bought my pack of dried peas today. I've never even noticed them on the shelves before. I'm really interested to find out how they taste. There's a pea shoot revolution going on.
Hi Gem,
Great program and great idea, one problem, who bought all the dried peas?? Can't get them for love or money. Guess your message did it or maybe we don't get dried peas in the south east.
Will keep trying.
NG
PS. Tell PHJ I left him a belated message on childhood memories restored. I'm new to this and not sure if PHJ will go back into my old message. Cheers.
Hello NG,
I got mine in Somerfield in Worthing.
I must try there. They didn't have any in Sainsburys at Rustington.
, in reply to message 16.
Posted by martingodliman (U13761957) on Thursday, 15th April 2010
Mine are just coming through now....after I moved them indoors, what a bunch of cheapskates you lot are, I paid full B&Q prices for peas seeds !
I will of course get dried peas if I see them in the supermarket, if you lot haven't bought them all.
Anyone know what the minimum sensible depth of the tray/soil would need to be to grow these?
, in reply to message 18.
Posted by ClaireWillis35 (U14367964) on Thursday, 15th April 2010
I didn't see the programme but would like to try this out. How do you actually grow the pea shoots? Is it like growing cress?
I got some dried peas today in the 99p shop that replaced Woolworths - 3 packets of Bachelor's Marrowfat peas for £1!
Now I need to decide whether to soak them, and find a place to sow them.
You don't think it has to be indoors, do you? I was thinking of some sort of pot, possibly covered with fleece until they show through, kept in a sheltered spot in the garden.
I feel a Delia moment is not far away.
Hi everyone, I just wanted to tell you all that I had my first picking of shoots yesterday and very nice they were too - unfortunatly they didn't make it to the kitchen .
I didn't soak mine first just planted them in a long tub I think on the programme they were planted in a wooded veg box ?. I have been watering well, and kept them in the GH
Gem
I have been sowing these peas for the last few years, but have not use them as salad leaves, will try them this year. The packet I have been using is about 4 years old, and they have always germinated.
I'm trying this pea-sprout technique, and can now report that soaking the peas overnight doesn't help. I soaked half of mine overnight and put them in beside the rest next day. The peas that were sowed dry are sprouting first, so my conclusion is that they may as well be in the pot/ground for that extra day or so rather than soaked.
I have also sown some dried ones I got from morrisons now can you keep them until the peas come or are they just for eating the shoots?
How big are they shoots suitable for eating?
many thanks
wendy
Soaking peas or beans for that matter is certainly hit or miss. what you must realise is, that the most important thing is your soil, if it's to cold the seed will not germinate as fast, while warmer soil will activate the seed earlier and quicker
On Alys Fowler's TV show she seemed to be growing the shoots until they were 4-6 inches tall and them snipping them off to use in salads.
What I'm not sure about is whether, having doen this, you can then re-sow another batch of peas in the same pot of compost. Does anyone know?
, in reply to message 27.
Posted by martingodliman (U13761957) on Sunday, 25th April 2010
I asked the same a while back Magpies no one seems to know, it would seem likely....no? anyway I'm gonna try otherwise I'm not sure it's worth doing.
Hi i have also grown some pea shoots from dried peas and they have come up beautifully, they are 4" tall we have snipped some off for dinner to add to a cucumber and tomato salad, they are delicious, lovely flavour.
Also, I bought a book from our library when they had a sale (bag of books for 50p!) and got 'Salads Leaves for All Seasons' by Charles Dowding. It has a bit about pea shoots which says 'when plants are 8 - 12" tall cut off the top 2 - 3".......you may then have to wait another fortnight or more before the next shoots are ready, and thereafter keep picking them at the length you most enjoy...baby shoots are tender...longer shoots give more to eat and even their tendrils are edible, but a little tougher.'
I assume then this means they are cut and come again?
It also says that they will eventually flower and you can even eat the flowers! It is a really good book if anyone is interested in growing salads
, in reply to message 29.
Posted by martingodliman (U13761957) on Thursday, 29th April 2010
Thanks for that Janet I just knew somebody must know.
well iv planted two batches and had zero..i rushed out like evryone else bought dried peas so i dont know what im doing wrong..!
I too planted some quick soak peas last sunday and today (thurs) they ave sprouted !!! I buy a bag of these in never knowingly undersold supermarket for £1.69 for 80g. I can't wait until I can start picking them. I have made up a big batch for our school Garden Sale too as cut and come again salads. They taste lovely and buttery.
I noticed tonight that mine have just started sprouting (took 10 days to be precise).
I am so glad I spotted this thread, as I have been wondering how best to go about growing pea shoots. As a complete novice, I need all the help I can get, so thank you all for your advice. Off to the supermarket now to acquire some dried peas.....
How deep is the soil people are successfully growing them in?
I was wondering if I could get away with a gravel tray well filled, or if it needs to be a trough or pot.
Hi Lokelani - mine are in a half seed tray, so not really deep and they are quite densely sown with about half an inch of compost on top of them, so i would think a gravel tray would be fine for them
Oh right that's great, thanks!
The new gravel trays I bought this year were a bit deeper, so much so that the small pots I had planted on didn't peep over the rim to get enough light.
So they're sitting unused & I'll definitely give them a try.
I have done it this way for a couple of years and works a treat.
Seed tray - 1cm compost, cover in peas, more compost, more peas (bit like daffs in pots). Use a full packet of peas for a seed tray. Keep watered and up they come - the compost will rise like a loaf rising, the give it a shake, and the "crust" will fall of and there is your forest of pea stalks.
Interestingly, it was the humble pea that got me hooked on gardening.
Back in the early 70s as a 12 yr old, playing with pea shooters used the very same dried pea, our missiles often landed on piles of builders sand on the local building site which was our battleground. Pea shoots came up and got me thinking. For a few years I grew peas with my gran in sand in pots, no fertiliser at all, and got great crops. I sometimes wonder wether all this npk really is to feed our imagination and not the plants...
I just put mine straight outside in the middle of April they are doing fine. Actually the soil it bubbling up from the energy in the seeds.
Nice to see.
I bought a salad bag the other day (my salad is not grown up enough yet) and that had pea shoots in it.
It’s all the rage.
, in reply to message 39.
Posted by martingodliman (U13761957) on Wednesday, 5th May 2010
I liked the sound of that John, so is your forest after shaking off the crust a mixture of pea stalks and pea roots like you see bean sprouts or are you eating/cutting just the tips/stalks ?
Mine are OK I ate some today but I used a container about eight inches deep !!! Also I think I should have sown them thicker for more shoots.
The amount of compost and peas seed I've got to container I've used..............is profligate !
Just found this thread by accident - brilliant!! I shall be off to buy some supplies tomorrow (if I can find any!!)
'The amount of compost and peas seed I've got to container I've used..............is profligate !'
Me too.
Yes you can pull the whole lot and eat sprouted, its not bad - they do keep coming though. I will take a snap tommorow and post it somewhere
Just brought a tray in and put a video on to youtube - its off the mobile so excuse the quality. This lot are approx 18 days. Its a full box of dried peas, planted in layers, as described in my other post. Hope you can see the density and the sprouted peas on the surface of the compost.
Thanks for that John, that's what I'll be doing next time.
Wow, that really is a tray full of pea shoots! If I could manage to actually buy a packet of dried peas I would start trying that myself.
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