The sun is starting to shine more, the soil is heating up and spring is just weeks away, and I am starting to think peas!
Soil preparation is very important and needs good drainage to ensure the seeds do not rot. Peas also like limed soil and will not grow in acid soil. They also love to have plenty of well decayed organic matter spread around them. So, if you are also thinking peas, here is how to prepare and sow them.
Dig a trench about 400mm deep and wide
Line it with layers of newspaper
Then top up with old straw, seaweed, limestone or dolomite
Scatter through all this a few handfuls of blood and bone
If you have mature animal manure, put this in the trench also
Give it all a water, back fill with good topsoil and let it rest for a few days
Sow the seed in a zig-zag about 100mm apart, about 40mm deep – in the topsoil and just above all the things you added to the trench
Sprinkle alongside the seeds bone meal or blood and bone
Cover the seeds and push the soil in well using the flat end of a rake.
Water well and watch the first shoots appear in about 2 weeks
Not only will this give you great peas, it will also inject life back into the soil
Enjoy!
Peter