Pisum sativum
Pea
Common names: Garden pea, Sugar snap pea
Description
The pea is a nitrogen gatherer that improves the soil for the following crop, and at the same time the sweetest snack straight from the bed. Sugar snap peas are best eaten raw, pod and all.
Care instructions
Sow from March directly into the bed and give climbing cultivars an early support of brushwood or netting. Peas need little fertiliser but even moisture during flowering; then the pods fill out plump.
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
loamy, humus-rich, well-drained
Feeding
Light feeder
Companion planting
Good neighbors
cabbage family (Brassicaceae)
particularly well establishedLeguminous plants collect nitrogen in the soil, from which Brassicaceae benefit as heavy feeders.
For example White cabbageKohlrabiRomanescooil radishYellow mustardRocket and 13 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
carrot family (Apiaceae)
Peas and beans provide carrot and celery with nitrogen and grow as shallow-rooted plants without competition next to each other.
For example celery rootDillParsleyCorianderCelery (Stalk Celery)Fennel and 14 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
gourd family (Cucurbitaceae)
Beans and peas enrich the soil with nitrogen, which cucurbits, as heavy feeders, can make good use of.
For example PumpkinCourgetteButternutHokkaidoPatissonSpaghetti squash and 12 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
Rather not
amaryllis family (Amaryllidaceae)
particularly well establishedAllium species inhibit the nitrogen‑fixing rhizobia of legumes through their root exudates, which slows their growth.
For example DaffodilSnowdropornamental garlicAgapanthus lilyWild garlic
Source: basic crop‑rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
Varieties
6 varieties‚Ambrosia’
A sugar pea of the Kaiserschote type, where you eat the whole flat pod young and tender.
‚Blauwschokkers’
An old Dutch caper or gray pea with striking violet‑blue pods and two‑tone rose‑purple flowers, a real eye‑catcher on the fence.
‚Frühe Heinrichs Riesen’
The *‚Frühe Heinrichs Riesen’* is a productive, seed-fixing marker pea with long, well-filled pods on tall-growing plants.
‚Kelvedon Wonder’
An early wrinkled pea with compact growth that needs only a low support of twigs.
‚Kleine Rheinländerin’
An old German shelling pea from the Rhineland with low, self supporting growth that gets by with little in the way of support.
‚Norli’
An early sugar snap pea of low habit that suits small beds, raised beds and even large containers on the balcony.
Notes from real gardens
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From the magazine
Peas: marrowfat, round and mangetout, three types compared
A pea is not just a pea: the robust round pea, the sweet marrowfat pea and the crisp mangetout each have their own character. Here is how to choose the right type, sow early into the bed and harvest from the bottom up, entirely without nitrogen fertiliser.
A snacking garden for kids: quick wins at eye level
How to build a snacking bed with children that pays off in weeks. From radishes and sugar snap peas to snacking herbs, plus the poisonous plants that have to stay out.
Build Your Own Trellis and Support: Sizes for Beans, Cucumbers, Peas
Build plans with real measurements for a bean teepee, a cucumber trellis and a pea frame, put up in CW 14 to 18, before you sow.
June: The First Big Harvest and the Beds in Full Swing
June brings the first big harvest: strawberries, peas and kohlrabi fill the basket. At the same time, sowing for autumn carries on, and the first pests need keeping in check. Your plan for early summer.