It is too late to check now but I believe your peas were attacked by spider
mites. My experience with mites is exactly as you described.

Good Luck next time.
"downtime null" m wrote
in message ...
I planted some "Little Marvel" peas in my garden a while back. I planted
them
in a raised garden. The garden box is 1 foot deep and filled with a mix of
turkey manure and loam. I don't know the ratio; I just bought the
Planter's
Mix. They grew really, really well for a little while. Some of the plants
climbed as high as 2 1/2 feet in a short time. Then I noticed that the
leaves
at the bottom of the plants started turning brown around the edges. This
contiued on all plants, working its way up the plant. The plants are now
almost completely dead. Several of them had even started to bear fruit.
What
could have caused this. My other plants (except lettuce, but that a
diffrent
story) are doing fine. Could it be that the soil was just to rich for the
peas?
Too high in nitrogen or something?