Kitchen Garden Forum

A couple of years ago, when moving to where I am now, we had to have the gutters replaced. So I used the old ones for sowing peas. This works reasonably well, but it is not that easy to ensure even spacing in the gutters and, no matter how careful I was, when planting them out the resultant spacing was anything but even.

So this year I have sown 40 to 50 peas in ordinary seed trays and planted them out when ready. Although this takes a little longer, I think the end result is much better - you have a better root system and control the spacing.

In fact, I am now sowing and growing most of my veg in containers to start with and only planting out when they have a good root system. All I need now are decent root-trainers for carrots and parsnips. I reckon 1/2 inch diameter and about 4 to 6 inches deep which unfold - maybe in batches of 60 or even just 24's. Anyone out there got any ideas?

I tried sowing in gutters, too, but it never really worked. I now use roottrainers, more fiddly to plant out, but much more successful in the long run.

next year i am going to try toilet rolls for my carrots and parsnips

kitchen roll centres work aswell if you need something longer.

Prepared a raised bed, placed potted peas in bed. Made a 3ft frame with
1"x 1"x 4ft wooden stakes then strung the stakes in all directions. Surrounded frame with fleece and top cover with fleece secured by drawing pins.

When peas matured, took fleece top off then a few weeks later reduced sides to half hight.
This kept the birds off and gave an exellent early crop concidering I live on the North East coast.
I am going to try this next year for Carrots as companion planting with Onions, Marigolds and Shallots did'nt do so well.
All the best to all
Fred Perry

I've given up on toilet roll middles - they slump into mush with too much water and suck the compost dry with too little - and we're talking tiny variants in the amount of water here. Too much trouble. Get yourself some plastic mushroom boxes from the greengrocer - punch a few holes in the bottom if they haven't got any already, line with a few layers of wet newspaper, fill with compost and sow peas, beans, sweet peas - all those guys, in little clusters you can easily trowel out when they're ready. They work great and you can use them again and again. One of our plotholders works at the veg market and brings us stacks of these little crates, they're handy for all sorts of jobs and worth looking out for (the rubbish piles at the back of restaurants is good hunting ground for things like this, and wooden orange boxes too). I practise for when I really become a bag-lady.

Hi GIULIA,
Have tried most things over the years and I now sow Peas in 7cm sq pots and this coming year I propose to plant 3 peas per pot in a chevron pattern thus >>>>.
I have grown as many as 5 per pot but that I realise is too many and growth is far too thick. You get a very good crop but exceedingly difficult to pick.
My peas are grown in a cage made with framing and anti White Fly netting.
JB.

Johnboy - I may, mysteriously, send you a few of these crates to try! How will I do that?
Wait and see.
Giulia x

I agree with Johnboy and most others posting here,, life is too short for all this gutter business, and peas are one of the simplest things to sow and grow, my 7 year old daughter has been doing it with great success since she was 3.For early crops sow in 7cm pots once the soil has warmed up sow direct, main probs early on are mice and slugs..S.T.