Peppers

Peppers

You can treat peppers in the same way as tomatoes, so if you’ve decided to grow a few tomatoes this year then why not grow some peppers too.

Sowing seeds or planting

You can sow some seeds if you want, in the same way as you do tomatoes but personally I don’t bother. I find I never need as many pepper plants as tomatoes and it doesn’t seem to be worth the effort when I can buy a handful of plants for the same price as a packet of seeds.                            

  

Soil

As with tomatoes good rich soil is required so dig before you plant and incorporate some compost. You will often see it written that peppers and many other vegetables need free draining soil, not a problem with our climate. Apply a mulch around the base of the plants once the temperatures start to soar.

                                                                                                                  

Aftercare

Fortunately peppers do not require the same amount of attention as tomatoes, there is no need to pinch out the growing tip or remove unwanted foliage but some support will be necessary especially if you’re growing in pots. You can simply place canes a few inches from each plant and tie up the plants loosely or follow the Spanish method of erecting a hurricane proof structure. Sometimes I think they take more pride in these skeletal structures than they do in the plants themselves. Oh yes and it goes without saying that you’ll need to feed them once a week once the first fruits starts to form. Regular picking will ensure a regular supply through summer and early autumn. I’m not a great fan of raw green peppers but they are excellent roasted whole on the barbeque so the skins just start to blacken. Leave a couple of fruits to ripen, red peppers are great in salads or stuffed and roasted which is my favourite.

Watering

I’m getting a bit bored with saying this but water as for tomatoes, that is keep the compost or soil moist but not waterlogged and never let the soil dry out. Peppers do not suffer many problems but you will definitely get blossom end rot if you don’t follow this rule. If you’re growing in pots then watering little and often twice a day during July and August will be essential.                

Varieties

There aren’t as many varieties to choose from as tomatoes but that is not really a problem. I don’t grow yellow or orange varieties as I think they are slightly gimmicky and the flavour is not that much different or better. It’s a personal choice and entirely up to the grower. The two types I like to grow are the standard bell pepper and what the Spanish call the “italiano”, a long thin pepper with the shape of a large chilli but mild in flavour. Talking of chillis, if you want to grow them follow all the above rules and you won’t go far wrong.

                                                                                                                    

Peas

peas

Peas are not a particularly difficult plant to grow but often the size of crop does not warrant the effort put in to growing it. That does not stop us from growing them every year and every year we grow more and more. It’s like having an organic sweetshop in your garden, and that’s why we grow them. Not many make it to the kitchen, they’re eaten straight from the pod along with the strawberries and the occasional cherry tomato.

Soil

If you want to grow a bumper crop for the kitchen and maybe have some left over for freezing you will need a good deep soil. If you fancy just a few to nibble on while you’re working or just wandering in the garden then any old ordinary soil that has been dug over will be ok. My son has a little patch of his own with a couple of peas growing in it. He hasn’t done anything special to the soil, just a little digging and the occasional watering and he picks the odd pod to eat himself.

Sowing and planting

Peas are easily grown and can be started off in pots and kept in a sheltered spot early in the season. When the seedlings are large enough to handle and have a good rootball they can be planted out and when the temperature starts to warm up sow some seeds directly into the soil. When these seeds start to emerge sow a few more, that way you should have a regular supply of peas throughout the season. Plant the seeds about a centimeter deep and keep moist. If the temperature is cold and the compost/soil too wet the seeds have a tendency to rot so keep pot grown seeds warm and sheltered.

Time to plant

Sow outdoors from March onwards or start them off in pots from February. You can keep on sowing until June. For a second crop sow in September when the temperature drops and hope for some autumn sun and a little rain.

Aftercare

Once the seeds have germinated and have started to grow you will need to give them some support. A wigwam of bamboo or canes can be constructed or place “twiggy pea sticks” next to each plant. We have used olive tree prunings pushed into the soil for the peas to climb up. Doing it this way is easier than a wigwam frame and gives the peas plenty of small branches and twigs to climb up. It’s not the prettiest way of doing it but it works. Peas are fairly easy to look after, just let them do their thing. There is no need to pinch out growing tips or tie up the stems, you don’t need to earth up soil or any thing special. Like I said just let them do their thing.

Watering

Theirs not much too say other than keep the soil moist. Normally I would say put a mulch down to conserve moisture but with peas it isn’t as necessary as some other vegetables that need more attention. Likewise I don’t give my peas any fertilizer.

Harvesting

The time to harvest your peas is when the pods are rounded and the peas have swollen inside the pods. Hold the pods and snap off at the knuckle. To get the peas from inside the pods, snap off the top of the pod and peel down at the same time.

General advice

The great advantage of growing peas is even if you don’t get a bumper crop the plant will put nutrients back into the soil. Leave the plants to die back even if the crop is poor then either cut off the dead foliage or dig it into the soil. The soil will then be enriched with nutrients for different crop.

If you have had the space to grow plenty of peas and you have had a bumper crop you might have more than you can eat. Fortunately peas are the best of all the vegetables for freezing. The sooner you can freeze them the better. Blanch them for thirty seconds in boiling water, rinse in cold water or plunge in a bowl of iced water then pack them into zip lock bags and put in the freezer.