In article , Nick Maclaren
writes

The context of that was broad beans. My first sowing went in over a
week ago, pre-sprouted.

I find that it's much better to do the same with peas so that mice etc
don't keep nicking them! I lost loads last year .




--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

"La Puce" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 19 Mar, 14:42, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
Well, other than (apparently) you,I can't think of anyone who DOESN'T
plant them then - or at least intend to.

But you don't. That surely makes two of us ) I remember how
surprised I was to read that broad beans were sowed so early. It's far
too humid here and as I said nobody I know sow their broad beans as
early as Feb here in Manchester, in my lotty (Scott Avenue in Chorlton
Cum Hardy)

Good grief, that's where I was born. Manchester Rd, Chorlton to be precise.
How is the old place?

Steve

On 19 Mar, 19:29, "shazzbat"
wrote:
Good grief, that's where I was born. Manchester Rd, Chorlton to be precise.
How is the old place?

The streets are lovely and clean with fabulous front gardens. Around
my allotment each street trees have sweatpeas up them or clematis and
roses. It's quite charming really. But the house prices ... there's no
chance I'll ever be able to purchase one. I had fallen in love with
one a couple of years ago and when I visited the agency, the house was
going for £400K. I'll content myself with my lotty plot ;o) Chorlton
is really buzing - lots of new cafes, shops and restaurant/pubs. It's
very trendy now. Lots of organic veg shops, organic boucher/fish
stalls etc. I counted 5 flower shops on Saturday. Had lunch there,
again, as it's my village really and I always meet someone I know. I'm
sure you'd like it very much.

On 19 Mar, 16:25, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
The context of that was peas.

Ok.

I wonder where Amethyst is from. Still, it's all so interesting to
find out when people sow from different part of the country. I checked
last night with D Hessayon, the veg expert from the series of books
and he wrote that end March mid April to sow broadbeans, but earlier
depending how mild it is in your area. There's no mention of autumn
varieties which I found strange!? I've also checked with Tony, the
oldest allotmenter and winner of all the prizes immaginable on our
plots, and he's ancient, and he sow end of march/mid april here in
Manc, never in the autumn. The reason he said was that it's far too
wet.

Indeed one can sow in pots and transplant - but I don't like doing
this for broadbeans and peas. Like Cath, last year was the year of the
broadbeans for us. Straight sowing makes strong plants!

La Puce wrote:
On 19 Mar, 11:56, "Amethyst Deceiver"
wrote:
Should I replant last week's peas, broad beans and onion sets or is
there still a chance they'll survive?

I wouldn't worry about the onions - but you're early with peas/broad
beans. I would wait and see - however how tall are your peas/broad
beans? Or have you just planted the seeds?

My original post - "Should I replant last week's peas, broad beans and onion
sets" may have been a clue.

According to Carol Klein, Alan Titchmarsh, three other gardening books on my
kitchen table and, more importantly, the seed packets themselves, I'm not
early with the peas or broad beans.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/cal...alendarmar.asp
http://www.nvsuk.org.uk/growing_show...rden-march.php
http://www.btinternet.com/~bury_rd/GardenDiary.htm
http://www.pan-uk.org/Info/gardening.htm

all seem to think I was okay to plant in March.

La Puce wrote:
On 19 Mar, 16:25, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
The context of that was peas.

Ok.

I wonder where Amethyst is from.

Should have used my sig, sorry. I'm in Wet Yorks. Not all that far from K.

--
Linz
Wet Yorks via Cambridge, York, London and Watford
My accent may vary

On 20 Mar, 12:26, "Amethyst Deceiver"
wrote:
My original post - "Should I replant last week's peas, broad beans and onion
sets" may have been a clue.

I'm so sorry indeed it was. I don't do it like this. I straight sow.
Now you're asking if you should therefore 'replant' everything? I'm
sorry but I still don't understand. You have sown in pots, planted
them and now wonder if you should 'replant' them. Yes? Replant them
where? And why? And do what with them?

So that's why I've said, wait and see and added that it is quite early
to do peas and broadbeans - thought we all differ for sowing times
with broadbeans because of different climate. As for the onions, mine
have been in ages ago.

According to Carol Klein, Alan Titchmarsh, three other gardening books on my
kitchen table and, more importantly, the seed packets themselves, I'm not
early with the peas or broad beans.
all seem to think I was okay to plant in March.

Sure. If you have seeds, you sow not plant. There's a difference and
it's this that has confused me. You mention planting, which means you
have already sown your broadbeans and peas. In this case it was too
early - for me at least.

Amethyst Deceiver wrote:
: La Puce wrote:
:: On 19 Mar, 11:56, "Amethyst Deceiver"
:: wrote:
::: Should I replant last week's peas, broad beans and onion sets or is
::: there still a chance they'll survive?
::
:: I wouldn't worry about the onions - but you're early with peas/broad
:: beans. I would wait and see - however how tall are your peas/broad
:: beans? Or have you just planted the seeds?
:
: My original post - "Should I replant last week's peas, broad beans
: and onion sets" may have been a clue.
:
: According to Carol Klein, Alan Titchmarsh, three other gardening
: books on my kitchen table and, more importantly, the seed packets
: themselves, I'm not early with the peas or broad beans.
:
: http://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/cal...alendarmar.asp
: http://www.nvsuk.org.uk/growing_show...rden-march.php
: http://www.btinternet.com/~bury_rd/GardenDiary.htm
: http://www.pan-uk.org/Info/gardening.htm
:
: all seem to think I was okay to plant in March.

I would say you're on the tardy side if anything but then again i wouldn't
take any advice from Alan Titchmarsh either

Amethyst Deceiver writes
La Puce wrote:
On 19 Mar, 11:56, "Amethyst Deceiver"
wrote:
Should I replant last week's peas, broad beans and onion sets or is
there still a chance they'll survive?

I wouldn't worry about the onions - but you're early with peas/broad
beans. I would wait and see - however how tall are your peas/broad
beans? Or have you just planted the seeds?

My original post - "Should I replant last week's peas, broad beans and onion
sets" may have been a clue.

According to Carol Klein, Alan Titchmarsh, three other gardening books on my
kitchen table and, more importantly, the seed packets themselves, I'm not
early with the peas or broad beans.

http://www.rhs.org.uk/vegetables/cal...alendarmar.asp
http://www.nvsuk.org.uk/growing_show...rden-march.php
http://www.btinternet.com/~bury_rd/GardenDiary.htm
http://www.pan-uk.org/Info/gardening.htm

all seem to think I was okay to plant in March.

Well, you'll have seen the majority verdict on here is that you are OK
:-)
And no need to replant since I imagine they haven't even burst through
the surface of the soil yet. I always used to plant my broad beans in
March (Feb when I was in Kent).


--
Kay

Hmmm. Well, I normally hate discussing vegetables, since I find them
intensely dull to grow. I hastily add that those who enjoy vegetables
will certainly take an opposite view. Each to his/her own ... they
grow food for the body while I prefer to grow food for the soul. As a
youngster in the (much colder then) Midlands, we had a very large and
productive veg patch tucked behind the greenhouses. No fun for me,
because I seriously hated double digging our heavy clay soil, but at
least I learned how to grow the damn things properly! Pocket money
had to be earned though so I begrudgingly helped my father.

Broad beans: traditionally, we sowed early (October/November) in
order to encourage young, 'hard' shoots that could be pinched-out
early to avoid blackfly. 'The Sutton' was a good one for this and in
the bad old days prior to current warm winters, it easily withstood
ground that was regularly frozen solid. It is a very tough variety
capable of producing a fine crop earlier than most - usually in May.
'Aquadulce' is another that did better with an autumn sowing and had
longer pods with a more beans, but in my opinion the flavour and
texture wasn't quite so good. More recent varieties may be less
hardy, but I'm not aware of them being better flavoured or that much
more prolific.

We also sowed peas quite early, but protected them with cloches. They
were soaked with parafin to deter mice and voles and were usually
sowed in in sand-lined drills mid-late February depneding upon whether
the weekend was wet or not. First earlies were always sown from the
2nd week in February until the 3rd week in March. These gave us very
tender young peas under cloches from the last week in April onwards
and with successional sowings, crops continued without the protection
of cloches over many weeks. This was in the days when a normal winter
night fell to -5C and spring frosts to -3C were a regular event. I
find it very odd that with the advent of a significantly warmer
climate than when I was in my teens, there are those who are sowing so
late!

On 20 Mar, 20:00, "Dave Poole" wrote:
Hmmm. Well, I normally hate discussing vegetables, since I find them
intensely dull to grow. I hastily add that those who enjoy vegetables
will certainly take an opposite view. Each to his/her own ... they
grow food for the body while I prefer to grow food for the soul.

OOooohhh how can you say that! Seeing a bed of red cabbages flanked by
leeks and intercropped with spinash ... white flowers of the chives
next to the curly kale and borrage mingling with flowerheads of
eryngium ... runner beans climbing red sun flowers ... lolo letuces
and oak leaf sown in a pattern ... step over apples framed with swiss
chards and perpetual strawberries ... all the possibilities with
flowers and vegetables are endless and this is pure food for the soul,
especially if you can also eat the flowers!

Broad beans: traditionally, we sowed early (October/November) in
order to encourage young, 'hard' shoots that could be pinched-out
early to avoid blackfly. 'The Sutton' was a good one for this and in
the bad old days prior to current warm winters, it easily withstood
ground that was regularly frozen solid.

How strange. The Sutton is a dwarf variety which I've done a couple of
years ago and I've sown it at the beginning of April. The long pod is
good for autumn sowing (not to be confused with the white long pod
sown in spring) and the Aquadulcy like you said, both need sheltered
site though, but the Windsor and the Witkeim, which I'm doing this
year, is sown from March until May. Traditionally broad beans used to
be sown in autumn, especially in the south of england, but not in the
north. I find the green beans more tasty.

The best ones I've ever eaten where grown in Growing With Grace,
organic growers near Lancaster. This year they have a workshop on May
5th and 6th - the principle of permaculture led by Rod Everett (my
hero) from Middlewood Permaculture centre.

find it very odd that with the advent of a significantly warmer
climate than when I was in my teens, there are those who are sowing so
late!

I think it could be because in those days we didn't have the amount of
food we have now, flown and grown from around the world, at any time
of the year and sold at every corners of our streets 24/7. If you were
hungry, you had to grow your own and the earliest start the better and
the more food you'd get.

This week end for me it's the start for sowing indoors and cold framed
tomatoes (beef heart), artichokes and brussells sprouts. Incidentally
I'm trying to find a red sprouts variety - it looks absolutely
gorgeous and could immagine it growing at the back of a row of
marigold with nasturtium running around it, all edible off course )

In article , K
writes

And no need to replant since I imagine they haven't even burst through
the surface of the soil yet. I always used to plant my broad beans in
March (Feb when I was in Kent).




I have some sown in individual pots indoors, waiting for them to
germinate and be put into a cold frame but they haven't come through
either yet and it's been a week so far!

So I should wait a bit longer or sow a couple in a greenhouse or indoors
like I do to fill any gaps.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article .com, Dave
Poole writes

We also sowed peas quite early, but protected them with cloches.

These gave us very
tender young peas under cloches from the last week in April onwards


Which varieties David? I sowed what I took to be shorter peas last year
so I would have to put a lot of support up but they shot up at an
alarming rate and ended up far too high to be covered by cloches!

--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Janet Tweedy wrote:

We also sowed peas quite early, but protected them with cloches.
These gave us very tender young peas under cloches from the last week in April onwards

Which varieties David?

Unfortunately I can't help you there Janet - we had 1st earlies and
mid-season that had been passed on to us and the seeds were saved each
year. We did the same with toms (big ugly medit-types with few seeds
and lots of very tasty flesh) and runner beans. I know that the
latter were the original 'Droitwich Champion', because the old chappy
responsible for bringing them to Webb's Seeds gave me some of his
personally saved seed.

I suppose that since the folks concerned are probably long since gone,
it doesn't matter me relating this about how that runner came into
being. Webb's are now a very large garden centre, but prior to that
incarnation they were a highly reputable seed company, second only to
Suttons. One of their staff was a fabulously wily old character
called Alf Wormington who had veg growing in his veins. What he
didn't know wasn't worth knowing. He had been with them since before
the war and when I knew him he was a part-timer, long since retired.

He told me that he used to keep an allotment down at Wychbold and
there was a great deal of rivalry between the holders. He discovered
his neighbour had a row of beans that produced the most wonderful long
pods; possibly the result of many years careful selection. Alf asked
for a few seeds but was flatly refused. He asked where they had come
from and received no reply. Those beans won a first at the local show
that year, trouncing all of the competition and were greatly admired.
They were good eating too, which made them all the more desirable. As
the next season progressed, Friday night talk in the local pub
revolved around veg growing and the upcoming local show. It was
generally agreed that Alf's neighbour would once more take first prize
for his runners, but they were slightly aggrieved that he wouldn't
share the seed or discuss its origins.

On his way home one night, confidence boosted by more than a few pints
of Bank's mild, Alf took a slightly wobbly detour. He clambered over
the fence and snipped a single immature pod from the row of prize
beans. He carefully dried it off and managed get 3 small seeds to
store properly without shrivelling. Just one germinated the following
spring. This was grown on at Webb's trial grounds; his employers
being totally unaware of the source. Seeds were collected from the
best pods and after a few years, 'Droitwich Champion' was ready to be
launched onto the market with considerable applause. It remained a
well respected variety well into the 1970's and I suspect that old
Colonel Webb was never aware of the source.

On 21 Mar, 09:25, Janet Tweedy wrote:
Which varieties David? I sowed what I took to be shorter peas last year
so I would have to put a lot of support up but they shot up at an
alarming rate and ended up far too high to be covered by cloches!

This is why I never do peas in pots (nor broad beans). Four years ago
we had a really cold spell in mid May and we had snow! By then my peas
were about 15cm high, sturdy and strong but I got really worried. Most
of them hadn't put any tendrills and weren't holding on the net yet,
so I used plastic bottles cut in half for protection. It worked and
saved them all.

To do early veges you need lots of time too. With a full time job,
kids and all, it's another reason why people sow later. There's less
chance to loose crops if not popping at the lotty every day. Having
said that, sowing late attracts vermin - it's a hard compromise. This
year I'll plant more CDs ;o)