Monday, October 08, 2007

fall peas

peas
pea trellis fall peas
My fall crop of peas is a couple feet tall now. I planted them on August 11. The variety is Alderan (Tall Telephone).

Here's the description form Sandhill Preservation Center, where I got these heirloom seeds: "Alderman (Tall Telephone): 75 days. I remember how much I enjoyed growing this variety in the cooler Springs in the Northwest. There it would reach 6 feet tall and be loaded with pods. Our rapidly changing climate here makes them shorter."

Pisum sativum

6 comments:

Matron said...

What a wonderful name - Tall Telephone - I'm quite interested in forgotten varieties of veg. Lots of the old pea varieties are much taller and bigger as there was a demand for dwarf varieties for smaller gardens. Look forward to seeing the results.

kathy said...

Yes, a great name. I'm looking for peas that grow TALL. Its a good way to get more from a small space. I suppose the dwarfs don't need a trellis, so they're easier. Its hard to find tall peas. The old Dutch Capucijner soup peas I grew were nice and tall.

kathy said...

It seems like these peas grew two feet this week. Out weather has cooled off and they seem very happy! Maybe they'll reach 6 feet yet.

Anonymous said...

Hi there! You have a great blog and you have utilized the area in your garden wonderfully! I had a quick question for you. I planted my first fall vegetable garden and am almost to a point where I need to stake my peas (Little Marvels and Super Sugar Snaps). I was wondering the best way to do that and what do I use? Thanks so much for any help you can give me. Just in case, the peas are planted in an 8' x 4' raised bed and the peas are in two rows along the 4' end of the bed.

kathy said...

I am very late in finding your question. Better late than never??

Anyway, my favorite staking method now is to make a tepee out of sticks or poles and then run string up it in spirals. Pea tendrils do best on string, I find. And tepees are the most stable support.

I hope your fall peas did well.

August 11 was too late to plant mine. They did not make any peas before the winter set in. Maybe I will use August 1 (or earlier?) as a last planting date in the future.

Anonymous said...

Hi there, I live in the Seattle area and started a small vegtable garden myself this year. I got some starts of the tall telephone peas but unfortunately I'm a VERY novice gardener and when I asked the local Master Gardeners about when would be the ideal time to harvest they had no advice for me. The peas have been in bloom for almost 2 months now and are still continuing to produce new blosssoms. The are in a the most sunny location I can place them but frankly other than watering regularly, I have no idea what I'm doing. Can anyone offer any advice or insight? I started the garden for my kiddos so I don't want to disappoint :)