Quote:
Originally Posted by OneDahlia
Kath, thanks for all that info! I wasn't picturing them fluffing out that much ... I may need to rethink some places I thought I might squeeze some in. 100 feet of peas, wow! That's mostly shelling peas, if I understood you right? And yes, for now, my children think it's fun to pick and shell peas and beans -- we'll see what they think by the end of this summer if I manage to grow as many as I hope.  |
The billowing doesn't tend to happen until they are 2 1/2-3' tall- it's windy here and I use chicken wire for fencing. With the weight of the peas, the rows of peas can move toward one another so much that they start intertwining with the vines of adjacent rows if not given enough room.
There are taller varieties you could grow that could give you a better yield with less row feet perhaps and if you have a sturdier support for those, like cattle panel or something, they still could fit in well on the edge somewhere I think.
Yes, mostly shell peas. I grew about the same amount of row feet last year and only froze about a half dozen quarts but we eat peas every day in the season, and lots of them.
DH loves to shell.
Some people are able to get a smaller crop of peas by planting for the fall, but I've not had success trying to start them in the heat. Maybe your shadier area would enable you to do something like that. Freezing snap peas would give you more meals for the amount of space, too. I've never tried growing them in fall.