~ Seed for PEAS ~
We want varieties that are really tasty, as well as productive.
Sowing Information
Peas are sown in early spring onwards - they're moderately cold tolerant, and we sow our first ones in modules in a cold greenhouse in February , planting them out as soon as they're an inch or so high (if you sow direct outdoors, mice and voles tend to steal the seed).
In mild areas, you can also sow hardier varieties in autumn for an early crop the next year.
Tall peas are are a little more work in that you need to provide supports,but you get a much, much bigger yield from a given space. Beware that some of the older varieties will grow to 6 foot plus in fertile soil!
~ Dwarf Pea Seed ~
Dwarf peas are earlier to crop than tall peas, and are a bit easier to grow, especially in windy areas, as they don't need such a big and strong support structure - although they will still need some netting or finely branching twigs to climb. If you just grow them without any support the pods will lie on the ground and get eaten by slugs or damaged by wet.
Oskar - VERY, VERY EARLY
A favourite from our 2011 trials, this is a first-early variety from the Czech Republic. Dwarf plants about 3 ft tall that make extremely sweet peas right at the start of the season. It has nice dark healthy foliage and bears a decent number of pods.
You'll want to successional sow or grow some other peas as well, as its so early that it finishes by the start of summer, but it is great for delicious peas before any others crop.
It really stands out in terms of how quickly it makes peas, and has a great taste as well - both fresh and cooked.
approx 150 seed £
"Vladan Early" Dwarf Pea LARGE PEAS
Another excellent pea from the Czech republic, "Vladan" is a new variety we have brought in as we are runing short of Oskar.
Vladan is a first-early variety about 3-4ft tall , and it makes particularly large peas, with about 7 or 8 to a pod. What is particularly interesting to us is that it has an unusually deep root sysytem and so is resistant to unexpected dry periods, which with think may help as our summers become more and more unpredictable as the climate changes.
The plant has deep dark green leaves, with a strong root system and so does well even in dry conditions.
about 130-140 seed £
American Wonder - TRULY DWARF
At least 150 years old, this is a remarkably early and dwarf variety from the mid 1800’s. It grows just 20” tall or less, requiring very little support, and it makes large crops of really fat pods just stuffed with sweet peas.
Already popular by the time the english edition of ‘The Vegetable Garden’ was published in 1885, where it is the first entry for dwarf peas. Ours match the description perfectly!
approx 145 seed £
Feltham First
A real heirloom, this is one of the earliest varieties. You can sow it in spring as usual, but it is also a very hardy plant and in milder areas it is also worth trying a November sowing for very early harvest at the start of the following year.
Originally from Mr A.W. Smith’s renowned seed company based in the fields of Feltham, in what was then rural Staines in the late 1800s. Now swallowed up by urban Hounslow, his fields and impressive glasshouses all along Feltham High Street are gone but his pea lives on and is still a favourite among home gardeners.
about 120 seed £
Kelvedon Wonder
This is one of the best second-early dwarf peas to grow in the UK. Originating in Essex about 120 years ago, it has good natural disease resistance and makes heavy crops of sweet peas. It grows to about two foot tall but will really benefit from some support either pea netting or twiggy sticks.
A second sowing in mid-late June will give you a second crop later in the season.
approx 175 seed £
Extra-Early Pedigree - EXCELLENT FLAVOUR
This variety was selected out of 'Extra Early' way back in 1893 by the Kenney Seed Co. Then it was stabilized and introduced around 1900 and distributed by several seed houses, considered “the best strain of Extra Early ever offered.”
This grows just 2ft tall and requires minimal support. We really liked this one in our trials last year - it has an excellent flavour.
100 seed £
Lakeshore Half-tall Early Pea
A very special, sweet tasting, easy picking shelling pea for both the fresh market and for home gardeners. Long pods with 10-12 extremely sweet grains inside.
Resistant to Fusarium races 1 & 2, and also to Powdery Mildew.
about 120 seed £
“Charmette” Dwarf Petit-Pois Pea
Our Charmette was first given to us by Andrew and Sarah of the Seed Ambassadors Project.
It's a truly gourmet ‘petit pois’ type of pea , making huge numbers of pods crammed full of very tender little peas, meant to be picked young and cooking only lightly. Exceptionally tender and well-flavoured.
This ‘charming’ variety needs little or no support if grown in double rows as the plants only grow to around 2ft tall.
Very rare now; we think this lovely pea is extinct other than our seedbank. Just 100 packets released this year.
small pkt of 40 seed, organic. £
~ Climbing Pea Seed ~
Climbing peas are a bit more work, as you have to put up a sturdy five or six-foot tall frame and some netting that won't blow over in storms - but you then get more peas from a smaller space. We have collected some really good varieties for you.
Serpette Guilloteau
A traditional climbing pea, to 1.5 m high, with curved pods full of fat green peas. The name is from the French for a special type of pruning knife, reflecting the remarkable sickle-shape of the pods!
Classed as ‘semi - early’ this makes a good second-early or maincrop pea. It has smooth (rather than wrinkled) seeds, so it can be autumn or early spring without risk of rot, but pick small for sweetness.
Fast growing, curved pods, slightly flattened sweet peas. Now very rare, we are producing here on Ian and Rhiannons farm in Pembrokeshire whenever possible, please save your own seed if you want to keep this old variety going.
55-65 seed £
Telephone Pea -VERY TALL
A well known and much loved tall pea - six foot plus - that we recommend as an early-maincrop pea. It hasn't really changed from the description of 'Carter's Telephone Pea' in Vilmorin's famous book of 1885 on vegetable gardening.
It has heavy yields of large pods with sweet, non-starchy peas inside. We find that the pods always swell up a bit before the peas fill out, so don't be fooled into picking too early! We find it's best to check a couple of pods first before picking lots - not too much of a hardship!
Wrinkled seed, stays sweet longer in pods - but don't sow in cold wet conditions.
about 150 seed £
"Champion of England" Tall Pea
Rescued and re-introduced by us in 2010, here’s your chance to grow a UK heirloom that had been commercially extinct for years.
A really good, traditional tall pea to 8 - 10 ft, dating from the 1840's. But it was unavailable, other than seedbanks, for a long time. A few people had sent us small samples of old seed from time to time, but we couldn't get them to grow. All that changed though when Robert Woodbridge got in touch with family-saved seed from Lincolnshire in the 1940's:
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.
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.
An amazing find- the genuine tall strain, well maintained over the years, and we even know the location it came from. Robert's grandmother would have been pleased to know her seeds have saved this variety for gardeners everywhere.
Practically extinct until we rescued it. As it is (like all our seeds) real seed - not a hybrid - you can of course keep your own seed for resowing.
approx 100 seed £
Sowing Information
Robert says: "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."
"Lord Leicester" Tall Pea
Another variety we rescued - a fantastic traditional UK pea that is sadly commercially extinct, but we managed to regenerate it starting with just a tiny handful of peas which we tracked down in a private seed collection in USA.
So here you are, a wonderful old pea brought back from the verge of extinction. It grows to about 5 or 6 ft tall, and the special thing about Lord Leicester is that starts to flower very early on, but carries on to almost the end of the season - so you get peas over a long period. The yield is good too - just look at all those pods in the picture!
As far as we know, this is now extinct, other than our crop - hence the smaller packet. But 50 or so seeds should be plenty to be honest, as it is really productive. And as it is (like all our seeds) real seed - not a hybrid - you can of course keep your own seed for resowing.
approx 50 seed, organic. £
"Magnum Bonum" Tall Pea
We are absolutely delighted to have Magnum Bonum available again. The really notable thing about this variety is its fantastic flavour. It is somewhat later to flower and produce pods than our other tall peas - you'll need to wait 2-3 weeks longer to get your crop. But it is very much worth the wait - the peas are sweet, but also have a really outstanding taste.
We suspect you'll eat most of your crop raw before they even leave the garden! If you like it, DO save your own seed, as we don't have the space to grow seed every year.
Small packet due to limited stock - but saving your own pea seed is very easy (they don't cross) and we supply full instructions, so if you set aside a small number of plants you can then have unlimited supplies in future years!
aprox 70 seed, organic. £
Rosakrone
An heirloom from Sweden, with beautiful red and pink flowers borne in large bunches ("Rosakrone" = "red crowns") above the foliage. The peas should be picked young as "petit pois" when they are sweet and juicy.
It grows to around 4 - 5 foot tall, and looks stunning on a wigwam or peasticks for a decorative feature, as well as providing peas to eat. Given to us by Vivi Logan, we were delighted to add this to our collection.
Clusters of stunning flowers followed by clusters of delicious peas!
approx 50-55 seed, organic. £
~ Mange-tout Pea Seed ~
Mange-tout peas are delicious; they are grown for the flat pods that are picked immature before the peas are fully developed.
'Bijou' Giant Sugar Pea -HUGE EDIBLE PODS
This sort of pea - real old fashioned Giant Sugar Peas with 7 inch edible pods - used to be very popular but are now almost completely extinct. The huge pods (the peas inside the pod in the photo are full-size) are sweet and juicy, and children just munch them straight off the plant.
After a 5 year project starting with a handful of peas found in a jar in a cellar, this is our reintroduction of a proper Giant Sugar Pea as used to be grown in 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.
We've had really good feedback since re-introducing it, with several people saying they would only grow this variety from now on.
Very rare, practically extinct, so a small packet, but you can easily bulk up your supply by saving a few pods worth of seed.
approx 40 seed, organic. £
Green Beauty Giant Sugar Pea (Mangetout)
This is an excellent replacement for the Bijou Pea ( we will produce that again in 2027).
Green Beauty is a huge green mange-tout with purple flowers, growing to about 6 or even 8 feet tall. The massive flat pods have a pretty red blush to some of them, and are great raw or cooked as they stay tender even when really big.
And the flowers are beautiful too!
Bred by Alan Kapuler of Peace Seeds, and supplied to us by our friends at the AP Whaley Seed Co.
40 - 45 seed £
'Golden Sweet' Yellow-Podded Mange-tout pea
This is a beautiful yellow podded pea that is very sweet eaten fresh or cooked. A rare variety, so do keep your own seed if you like it.
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, so we actually grow it in our front garden as a decoration! The yellow pods easy to see for picking, and great both raw in salads, or cooked as a vegetable.
approx 80 seed £
Beauregarde Purple Mangetout
A wonderful and hardy hardy mangetout pea, with deep-purple edible pods! This is a short pea, suitable for all sorts of sites, which doesn't need much support, and make large numbers of crunchy juicy purple pods.
Originally sent to us by Ellen Rignell, who has grown and bred all sorts of seed for us for many years. She found it at a seed swap and since then reselected for a stable deep purple colour. We have since taken on the variety and improved it further.
Only occasionally available, so keep your own seed if you like it.
Extremely rare, 35 seed starter packet, organic. £
"Ben Thanks for your note! .... Beauregarde is from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; "You're turning violet, Violet!". As happens when one is shelling the seed from the dry pods. Glad you like it! ... The idea of a purple pea was part wanting to be creative and part wanting to challenge the notion .. that only white flowered peas were suitable for consumption. I sought to separate the color from the bitter astringency with the hope that the peas would be more robust. The thinking was that peas have purple flowers in the wild and every winter hardy pea has purple flowers. I also started working on peas because they were part of my childhood garden along with peppers and winter squash" - Michael
~ Sugar-Snap Pea Seed ~
Sugar-snap peas are grown for their sugary, fat, edible pods - picked mature and eaten pod, peas and all.
Sugar Magnolia
The elusive properly-purple-podded snap pea! The tall plants are purple all around, with magenta flowers and deep purple pods. Hyper tendrils for extra grip.
Sent to us by Owen Bridge of Annapolis Seeds, we have been reselecting particularly good plants for since 2019. It is incredibly rare , so we are supplying small 'starter packets' & you should save your own seed for future use. It's very easy using the instructions on this website.
Named by breeder Alan Kapuler PhD after the Grateful Dead song from the 1970 album 'American Beauty'
starter pkt about 30 seed £
'Delikett' semi-dwarf Sugar-snap pea
A pea with very fat sweet edible pods - eat the whole thing cooked or raw, just like a french bean. Grows to about 4ft tall, so best to provide some support.
They are delicious either raw or cooked and we couldn't resist eating all the trial peas! Here's a cross-section of the pods to show just how fat and succulent they are . . .
about 100 seed £
~ parsley-Leaf Pea Seed - for salads ~
A new thing this year to try out!
'Akacia' Parsley-leaved Salad Pea - LIMITED GUEST VARIETY FOR TRIAL
What's this you say? A new pea , but not grown for the peas - it has been bred for the tips and tendrils to be used as a salad plant!
The highly branched tendrils - which normally would twine round supports - have little tiny leaves on them too, making them look like bunches of parsley. You pick them and put in salads with a wonderful pea flavour.
Harvest the ends of the leafy tendrils just as they unfurl - if you let them get bigger they go woody. But delicious and tender if picked young.
approx 40 seed £
Sowing Information
You don't need to grow very many, maybe 10 plants or so, to provide a constant supply of leafy tendrils for your salads.
~ Saving Pea Seed ~
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, then you'll avoid any mix ups.
Ideally pick your pea plants when
they are fairly dry - you can even just hang them on an indoor washing line if it's
persistently 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.
