All about Podded Peas

We don't seem to talk about Podded Peas much so now's your chance!
Do you grow them? Which varieties? Any tips? Are they worth growing.
Do you grow them to eat fresh, for freezing or for drying?

I used to. They taste really nice as a snack in the garden but podding lots of them is incredibly boring so now we only grow mangetout. Only ever grew shorter varieties like Oscar and Kelvedon Wonder.

I’m a fan of kelvedon wonder as well. I’ve got lots of different varieties to try when I have the space. I never seem to manage to grow very many though? I seem to be copying TMTT a lot in this thread     . I also like growing mangetout , Oregon sugar pod. Again I have several other varieties to try

The grubs liked any outdoor proper peas more than I, so I gave up. Hurst green shaft in a MFB in the gh were very nice and sweet to nibble on. Veggie introduced me to Bijou and I've never looked back. At least any grubs in mangetout are hidden. I've tried Golden Sweet mangetout but didn't care for them, i thought they were stringy. I am growing Oregon Sugar Pod mangetout this year.

We tend to be self sufficient in frozen garden peas. They are used mainly as a veg. on the plate and added to omelettes and vegetable dishes.

I grow a variety of Hurst green shaft that I have saved seeds from for the past about 20 years but it has acquired a fungus disease which I am trying to get rid of. I don't think it is too serious as the yield is not much affected. They seem to grow to about 4' now. Last year was quite a poor yield I only got 5.2kg (13kg of pods) from a 40' row while I got the same from a 34' row the year before. Also they didn't produce for very long last year (only 5 pickings in total), may be they didn't like the very hot weather.

I don't get troubled with too many caterpillars in the pods. The first pickings, usually I don't find any but the later ones a few. The pods I save for seeds can be quite highly infected as they are on the plants far longer. I used to sow a couple of other varieties for succession picking but the later ones always had more caterpillars so now I just sow once. Last year I sowed in early April and started picking in early July. Will do the same this year hopefully. I think 50' @ 12 peas/ft. So will need 600 seeds. Just need to decide where to put them.

Thanks Mark, that's the information I've been looking for to help me decide whether to sow or not.

Oregon Sugar Pod is also my mangetout of choice. Only grows about 3 ft high so is easy to support. I don't have the motivation to build a frame for the bigger climbers!

Delikett is a nice, short sugar snap pea.

With snap peas do you still get pea moth grubs? If so, how do you know if you eat the snaps whole?

With  snap peas do you still get pea moth grubs? If so, how do you know if you eat the  snaps whole?

You don’t know if you eat the grubs, you just get extra protein       .

I grow Telephone peas (that’s what the label said when I was given them) chitting them first then sowing into guttering. They grow to around 6ft and the more you pick they produce.
Will be starting them in the next few days.