Growing peas the old way
 

I think everyone who knows me also knows I don't 'do' veg. growing, so I
could well be preaching to the converted here. But Ray and I were chatting
over lunch and he told me about a tip from an old chap who worked for Ray's
family back in their Essex days. Old Tom taught Ray to plant seed peas
about a month before they could be sown outside. His method was to fill a
gutter about 6' long with compost and sow the seeds in it. During that
month in a glasshouse the seeds would sprout into nice, healthy, little
plants. When the right moment arrived, Tom dug a trench and carefully slid
the entire row of peas and compost into it, well advanced over those sown
directly into the ground.
Another one of Tom's tips was from the days before fruit & veg were imported
from all over the world and he learned it from the Head Gardener on some
huge estate. They would cut bunches of grapes with a 'T' piece of stem at
the top and carefully place the 'T' in a special kind of vase filled with a
solution of water and sugar, with the grapes dangling outside. Kept in a
cool outhouse, these would last until wanted for the Christmas table.
Another one I learned from Jersey farmers was to put new potatoes into a
crock or tin and bury them in the ground. Unearth them at Christmas and you
had 'new' potatoes for the festive table. I've never tried it and I've
always wanted to - one day!
And for those of us who had hail today - it's arrived here - Old Tom used
to say that if it hailed you'd have three days frost afterwards. We'll see!
I reckon that, given their combined ages, this wisdom from Tom must go back
nearly 100 years.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
I think everyone who knows me also knows I don't 'do' veg. growing, so I
could well be preaching to the converted here. But Ray and I were
chatting
over lunch and he told me about a tip from an old chap who worked for
Ray's
family back in their Essex days. Old Tom taught Ray to plant seed peas
about a month before they could be sown outside. His method was to fill a
gutter about 6' long with compost and sow the seeds in it. During that
month in a glasshouse the seeds would sprout into nice, healthy, little
plants. When the right moment arrived, Tom dug a trench and carefully
slid
the entire row of peas and compost into it, well advanced over those sown
directly into the ground.
Another one of Tom's tips was from the days before fruit & veg were
imported
from all over the world and he learned it from the Head Gardener on some
huge estate. They would cut bunches of grapes with a 'T' piece of stem at
the top and carefully place the 'T' in a special kind of vase filled with
a
solution of water and sugar, with the grapes dangling outside. Kept in a
cool outhouse, these would last until wanted for the Christmas table.
Another one I learned from Jersey farmers was to put new potatoes into a
crock or tin and bury them in the ground. Unearth them at Christmas and
you
had 'new' potatoes for the festive table. I've never tried it and I've
always wanted to - one day!
And for those of us who had hail today - it's arrived here - Old Tom
used
to say that if it hailed you'd have three days frost afterwards. We'll
see!

We had hail today. It came as quite a surprise, because it was sunny when I
went underneath the car two minutes previously. Still, I got the welder
unplugged in time so all's well.

Steve

As you know, I'm not a veg grower either Sacha, but I do remember
seeing this recommended by Percy Thrower on the original Gardener's
World many years ago.

...They would cut bunches of grapes with a 'T' piece of stem at
the top and carefully place the 'T' in a special kind of vase filled with a
solution of water and sugar, with the grapes dangling outside.

Yes this is still a successful method of you have a glut of grapes and
a well ventilated house. We used to have a massive 'Muscat of
Alexandria' that gave wonderful crops. They would deteriorate if left
hanging on the vine, but remained in very good condition for quite a
long time if placed in bottles of sugar solution.

And for those of us who had hail today - it's arrived here - Old Tom used
to say that if it hailed you'd have three days frost afterwards.

Yes we had a few minutes of hail here leaving a bit of ice lying for a
short while. That frost didn't arrive last night though and I'm
pretty certain that we've seen the last of winter here on the coast.

Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November

On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 20:41:38 -0000, shazzbat wrote:

And for those of us who had hail today - it's arrived here - Old Tom
used to say that if it hailed you'd have three days frost afterwards. We'll
see!

I had 3" of snow overnight, does that count?

--
Tim C.

On 14/2/05 9:37, in article ,
"Dave Poole" wrote:

As you know, I'm not a veg grower either Sacha, but I do remember
seeing this recommended by Percy Thrower on the original Gardener's
World many years ago.

It's a shame that so many of those old tips and tricks have long since gone.
Because people stopped growing their food on a large scale after the war, so
much of this sort of knowledge seems to have passed by many new growers.

...They would cut bunches of grapes with a 'T' piece of stem at
the top and carefully place the 'T' in a special kind of vase filled with a
solution of water and sugar, with the grapes dangling outside.

Yes this is still a successful method of you have a glut of grapes and
a well ventilated house. We used to have a massive 'Muscat of
Alexandria' that gave wonderful crops. They would deteriorate if left
hanging on the vine, but remained in very good condition for quite a
long time if placed in bottles of sugar solution.

And for those of us who had hail today - it's arrived here - Old Tom used
to say that if it hailed you'd have three days frost afterwards.

Yes we had a few minutes of hail here leaving a bit of ice lying for a
short while. That frost didn't arrive last night though and I'm
pretty certain that we've seen the last of winter here on the coast.

We didn't have frost here but we've still got some wind and it's very cold.
--

Sacha
(remove the weeds for email)

On 14/2/05 9:42, in article
1108373858.55f8b6d7f1805c910972d2b966084534@terane ws, "Tim Challenger"
wrote:

On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 20:41:38 -0000, shazzbat wrote:

And for those of us who had hail today - it's arrived here - Old Tom
used to say that if it hailed you'd have three days frost afterwards. We'll
see!

I had 3" of snow overnight, does that count?

I bet it does from where you are!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 14:40:08 +0000, Sacha
wrote:

His method was to fill a
gutter about 6' long with compost and sow the seeds in it. During that
month in a glasshouse the seeds would sprout into nice, healthy, little
plants. When the right moment arrived, Tom dug a trench and carefully slid
the entire row of peas and compost into it, well advanced over those sown
directly into the ground.

I think I saw this method used by Sarah Raven during her time on GW. I
can't remember the outcome. I noted it, as I had seen it demonstrated
somewhere before and tried the idea. The one thing I learned was that
you need to let the plants get a good mat of roots so that they slide
out of the gutter in one strip. I tried to slide mine out too soon.

Pam in Bristol

Pam Moore wrote:

I think I saw this method used by Sarah Raven during her time on GW. I
can't remember the outcome. I noted it, as I had seen it demonstrated
somewhere before and tried the idea. The one thing I learned was that
you need to let the plants get a good mat of roots so that they slide
out of the gutter in one strip. I tried to slide mine out too soon.

Ah, a nifty trick and one that works extremely well is to put a layer
of very thin polythene into the guttering before you fill it with
compost. Make sure there is overlap lengthways and you can easily
slide out the mass of peas, by gently pulling the polythene away from
the gutter. Gently firm the plants in and then carefully pull the
polythene away. This way you don't have to risk the young plants
becoming too root bound and compacted before they are planted out.


Dave Poole
Torquay, Coastal South Devon UK
Winter min -2°C. Summer max 34°C.
Growing season: March - November

The message
from Dave Poole contains these words:

Pam Moore wrote:

I think I saw this method used by Sarah Raven during her time on GW. I
can't remember the outcome. I noted it, as I had seen it demonstrated
somewhere before and tried the idea. The one thing I learned was that
you need to let the plants get a good mat of roots so that they slide
out of the gutter in one strip. I tried to slide mine out too soon.

Ah, a nifty trick and one that works extremely well is to put a layer
of very thin polythene into the guttering before you fill it with
compost. Make sure there is overlap lengthways and you can easily
slide out the mass of peas, by gently pulling the polythene away from
the gutter. Gently firm the plants in and then carefully pull the
polythene away. This way you don't have to risk the young plants
becoming too root bound and compacted before they are planted out.


This seems a good idea. I have tried the guttering method a few times
but have never felt that the plants get their roots down very
successfully. Perhaps I've left them a bit late.
I'm finding roottrainers establish stronger plants, but you need quite a
few roottrainers - and they aren't cheap.

Janet G

"Janet Galpin" wrote in message
...
The message
from Dave Poole contains these words:

Pam Moore wrote:

I think I saw this method used by Sarah Raven during her time on GW. I
can't remember the outcome. I noted it, as I had seen it demonstrated
somewhere before and tried the idea. The one thing I learned was that
you need to let the plants get a good mat of roots so that they slide
out of the gutter in one strip. I tried to slide mine out too soon.

Ah, a nifty trick and one that works extremely well is to put a layer
of very thin polythene into the guttering before you fill it with
compost. Make sure there is overlap lengthways and you can easily
slide out the mass of peas, by gently pulling the polythene away from
the gutter. Gently firm the plants in and then carefully pull the
polythene away. This way you don't have to risk the young plants
becoming too root bound and compacted before they are planted out.


This seems a good idea. I have tried the guttering method a few times
but have never felt that the plants get their roots down very
successfully. Perhaps I've left them a bit late.
I'm finding roottrainers establish stronger plants, but you need quite a
few roottrainers - and they aren't cheap.

Isn't that what toilet roll tubes were invented for?

Steve

In article ,
Janet Baraclough writes:
| The message
| from Janet Galpin contains these words:
|
| I have tried the guttering method a few times
| but have never felt that the plants get their roots down very
| successfully. Perhaps I've left them a bit late.
| I'm finding roottrainers establish stronger plants, but you need quite a
| few roottrainers - and they aren't cheap.
|
| You don't need to spend money. Take a half gallon plastic milk carton
| and cut the top off to make a pot 7" high, make holes in the bottom.
| Roll a sheet of nespaper around a broom handle, and slide out the broom.
| Cut the tube into lengths and stack them upright in the pot, closely
| enough so that they support each other, and fill with potting compost.
| When the plants are grown slit the pot to lift out the tubes and plant
| with the newspaper undisturbed. For larger plants like courgettes, use
| cardboard milk cartons with the tops and bottoms cut out, suporting each
| other in a seed tray or icecream box.

I must be getting old. Why didn't I think of the half gallon milk
things when I was doing that? You CAN support the broom-handle
pots with mere string, but it doesn't work very well.

A useful object that is wider than a broom handle is a vaccuum
cleaner pipe - most of them have at least one end that is free of
plastic clips.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 16/2/05 2:50 pm, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:

snip

A useful object that is wider than a broom handle is a vaccuum
cleaner pipe - most of them have at least one end that is free of
plastic clips.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


I must be getting old. I've run out of vacuum cleaners.

In article ,
Sacha wrote:

A useful object that is wider than a broom handle is a vaccuum
cleaner pipe - most of them have at least one end that is free of
plastic clips.

I must be getting old. I've run out of vacuum cleaners.

You clearly aren't a natural sheddi (see uk.rec.sheds). I keep all
of my old vaccuum cleaner pipes for use around the garden. They
make excellent extensions for loppers (though I have bent mine by
using them), they can be used as water conduit to the roots of
plants (a dry terrain trick, probably irrelevant to you, but it used
to be relevant here and is in California) and they are useful in
many other ways (even excluding large roottrainer formers).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.