pea 'Meteor'

pea

• Position: full sun
• Soil: fertile, moist but well drained
  
  One of the hardiest of all the overwintering peas, ideal for sowing in autumn to bring the harvest forward by several weeks in spring and a good choice for exposed sites. The compact plants grow just 45cm high, so they do well in containers, too, producing plenty of short pods filled with fine-flavoured fat round peas. The flowers are edible too and look pretty sprinkled over salads.
  
  
• Growing Instructions:Choose a sunny, sheltered site with fertile soil and make a broad flat-bottomed drill 5cm deep and 10cm wide. Water it, then place the peas in a double row before backfilling with soil. Protect from mice and slugs, and cover with a cloche in the worst weather to prevent wind damage and waterlogging. Where mice are a problem, raise peas on greenhouse shelving sown in guttering or toilet roll inners until plants reach about 10cm high before planting out.
  
  
• Sow: October-November and March-April
  
  
• Harvest: Mid-May onwards
  
  
• Approximate quantity: 350 seeds.