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~ Seed for PEAS ~One of you wrote across your order 'GARDENERS NEED PEAS!!!' a few years ago. We couldn't agree more, and now we're definitely getting there, after our latest trials. We have become interested in the possibilities of old-fashioned
smooth-seeded peas, as well as the wrinkle-seeded varieties now more
commonly grown . Smooth peas do go starchy more quickly once the pods
get big, We now like to sow smooth-seeded pea varieties for our early crops, and then wrinkle-seeded ones for the maincrop once the soil has warmed up. In warmer areas sow smooth-seeded varieties in late autumn for early crops the next year.
Here are some of both kinds for you to try, listed in
order of cropping. Dwarf Pea Seed
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Feedback? Mr P Woodcock of Norwich phoned to tell us: "I've been gardening for years and years and the variety of tall pea Telephone is fabulous! It beats Alderman hands down. I took them down into the pub and put them on the counter and showed them round. What do you think of that then? I asked them, everyone thought they were fantastic." |
"Champion of England " Tall Pea: NEW! - VERY RARE
Our new pea for 2010! The conclusion of a 3-year rescue project, here is your chance to grow a traditional UK variety that has been commercially extinct for years.
Champion of England is a really good, traditional tall pea to 8 - 10 ft, dating from the 1840's. But it's been unavailable , other than seedbanks, for a long time now. A few people sent us small samples of seed from time to time, but we couldn't get them to grow. All that changed in 2007 though, when Robert Woodbridge got in touch with a new strain of family-saved seed from Lincolnshire in the 1940's.
It grew really well, and more importantly, was true to the old descriptions. It was fantastic - the only reason tall peas have been abandoned commercially is that you can't harvest them with machines. But for home gardeners, they give a great return for a small space.
So, after a few seasons, we have bulked it up from his original handful, and have a very precious half -sack of seed now that you can try.
We'll let him give the history in his own words:
"I am going to send you some seeds of a Pea called Champion of England, my grandmother grew it in her very large garden in the village of Pickworth Lincs, I promised that I would always grow it and keep it going. She got the seed from the head gardener at a big country house during the war where my grandfather worked as a carpenter repairing wooden greenhouses and cold frames. As to the pea it grows to ten foot high and the peas are 8 to 10 per pod and you start picking from the bottom and work your way up, it prefers to be sown at the end of April to avoid the pea moth maggot and takes about 100 days to reach 10 ft." |
For us this was an amazing find. It's the genuine tall strain, well maintained over the years, and we even know the location it came from. We think Robert's grandmother would be pleased to know her seeds have saved this variety for gardeners everywhere.
Although we're hoping to grow lots more next year you never know what will happen, so if you like it you should check out our seed-saving instructions!
Very rare - hence the smaller packet. But 100 seeds should be plenty to be honest, as it is really productive.
Order PeCE - 100 seed £2.65 [CO1]
'Golden Sweet' Yellow-Podded Mange-tout pea
We have grown many mange-tout peas (if you've not tried them, you eat the wide flat pods) over the years but this one has always stood out head and shoulders above the others. It is a superb mange-tout pea, with beautiful yellow pods, tall productive vines, and a delicious crisp flavour.
The flowers are purple, & the pods are a wonderful lemon yellow colour, easy to see for picking, and great both raw in salads, or cooked, or stirfried.
Order PeGO - 100 seed £1.69 [CO1]
special online price (paper catalogue price is £1.89)
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Feedback? Everyone loves them! E.g. Clare Maple, via email: "We are currently growing a crop of these peas. Our neighbour, himself a traditional gardener but always open to new stuff, was interested in them. We all shared a few, fresh off the plant, and agreed that they are probably the best tasting peas we have ever had." |
'Bijou' Giant Sugar Pea (HUGE edible-pods)
We're really excited about this. Years ago we were given just a few seed of an old pea called Bijou, which makes HUGE mange-tout pods. This sort of pea - real old fashioned Giant Sugar Peas - used to be very popular but are now almost completely extinct.
With the help of Seed Savers Exchange, we have manged to bring it back into circulation. Three years ago we started multiplying up the original handful of peas, and by the second harvest last year we had a kilo of seed. We had to do some careful reselection work as a few weren't the right type, but we did get it cleaned up and true to the original type in the end.
So last spring we sent this very precious kilo of 'foundation' seed - the only quantity of it in existence - off for trial production. All went well and in due course we received back one small sack of very precious seed after harvesting and drying.
Here it is then, after a 3 year project, this is our own reintroduction of a proper Giant Sugar Pea as used to be grown the 1880’s. It matches the original description and engravings perfectly, even down to the pattern on the seeds and the number of seeds per gram.
We hope you enjoy it! You eat the whole pod raw or cooked. They're sweet and tender - & so huge that just a few pods are enough for salad or supper.
Order PeBi - approximately 100 seed £2.25 [CO1]
Very ,very rare, practically extinct, so do save your own seed and pass it on - our sack won't last forever. The pods are so big they're just silly.
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Peas don't in general cross very easily, so you can save seed from several varieties without worry. Here is our 'Golden Sweet' harvest.
But be sure that you don't plant types with similar-coloured seeds next to each other, otherwise you'll not be sure which plant they come from!
The tricky bit is getting your pea plants picked when they are fairly dry - we hang ours on an indoor washing line if it's rainy!
Then just stomp the peas out of their pods.
More detailed seed-saving instructions are included with your seeds,
so you can do all this yourself at home.
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Seeds are only supplied to members of our Seed Club. Membership costs 1p per annum. When we process your order, you will be charged for Gardeners Should Save their Own Seed: Because none of these seeds are hybrids, you can save your own seed for future use: there's no need to buy new each year. ~ 33,000 home seed-saving instructions sent out since 2003 ~ The Real Seed Collection Ltd is a not-for-profit company limited
by guarantee. - the only 100% Renewable Electricty Supplier |