Growing pea shoots
Apparently pea shoots are popular in smart restaurants. I have no idea as I don't go to smart restaurants but I do like fresh greens, especially when I am smack in the middle of the hungry gap, and I like the taste of fresh peas. I especially like fresh pea-tasting greens that are dead easy to grow and don't have to be air-freighted from Africa.
I mentioned pea shoots a couple of weeks ago and I did plant some shortly after that.
You only need a packet of basic supermarket dried peas, a tray (a plastic mushroom tray is perfect) and some compost.
I used the tray as it was with no drainage holes. If your tray has holes in obviously stand it on something that doesn't so you don't flood your windowsill.
Fill almost to the top with any compost (I used shop bought multi-purpose peat-free compost) and sow the peas thickly on the surface. You can soak them first but I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible rather than have more tubs sitting around. Pre-soaking may speed up germination. Sow thickly as this is a short term crop, you're not concerned with how well each plant will sustain itself, you just want maximum output for space.
Press gently into the compost, cover with more compost and water well. The peas will absorb a lot of water if they are not pre-soaked so leave a while before pouring off excess water. Stand the tray on a sunny windowsill.
Depending on the warmth of the windowsill, you may want to create a mini-greenhouse by covering with a (reused) polythene bag. I didn't bother and even with my draughty windows they sprouted in a couple of days.
You can pick as soon as they get a couple of inches high or leave until they're 6-8" high for longer shoots. I tend to pick off tendrils and a set of leaves from a stalk until I have as many as I want. They'll regrow from the leaves below.
Keep turning the tray to keep the light even and keep picking and watering.
I mentioned pea shoots a couple of weeks ago and I did plant some shortly after that.
You only need a packet of basic supermarket dried peas, a tray (a plastic mushroom tray is perfect) and some compost.
I used the tray as it was with no drainage holes. If your tray has holes in obviously stand it on something that doesn't so you don't flood your windowsill.
Fill almost to the top with any compost (I used shop bought multi-purpose peat-free compost) and sow the peas thickly on the surface. You can soak them first but I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible rather than have more tubs sitting around. Pre-soaking may speed up germination. Sow thickly as this is a short term crop, you're not concerned with how well each plant will sustain itself, you just want maximum output for space.
Press gently into the compost, cover with more compost and water well. The peas will absorb a lot of water if they are not pre-soaked so leave a while before pouring off excess water. Stand the tray on a sunny windowsill.
Depending on the warmth of the windowsill, you may want to create a mini-greenhouse by covering with a (reused) polythene bag. I didn't bother and even with my draughty windows they sprouted in a couple of days.
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| Big enough to pick |
You can pick as soon as they get a couple of inches high or leave until they're 6-8" high for longer shoots. I tend to pick off tendrils and a set of leaves from a stalk until I have as many as I want. They'll regrow from the leaves below.
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| After a couple of pickings. They'll resprout even from the lowest set of leaves on the right |
Keep turning the tray to keep the light even and keep picking and watering.
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| Pea shoots on a cold pork and roasted squash wrap |
I left the third regrowth of shoots and they produced mini pods with peas inside. The leaves were a bit strong but the pods and peas were good.
ReplyDeleteOoh! I’ve done it the other way round, picking shoots off of pea plants I’m growing for the peas but I’ve never tried leaving the shoots.
DeleteI’ve been away for a few days so I may get back to dead pea plants but maybe I’ll get home to pods!