Anyone in zone 6 growing fall peas ?

I'm thinking that I would like to plant a crop of fall peas. Does anyone know when I should plant them and what variety seems to be the best ? I'd like a really sweet variety that is hearty and grows easily here.
Want lots for the freezer, DH loves them.

I haven't had much luck with fall peas but they do overwinter in my zone under row cover. They seem to go dormant and then take off again in the spring. Start them 8 to 9 weeks before the first fall crop (maybe later if you have a early variety). According to Mel Bartholemew in 'Square Foot Gardening': "Unfortunately ... the seeds must be stated in the hot dry period of midsummer, and produce most of their growth during the dog days of August and early September. After that the weather gets better and the peas grow better, but they often suffer during that initial period. Try to find a partially shaded location that is protected from the hot summer sun but that gets full sun as fall approaches (the sun is lower in the sky). Remember to also to water regularly in hot weather." I've got my lettuce under 50% shade cloth and you could arange it so the peas got full morning sun but shaded Mid-day and afternoon.

For varieties, I found one advertised at Terrioritial Seeds, which caters to cooler NW climates: http://www.territorial-seed.com/stores/1/Utrillo_P2064C403.cfm . They say plant in August for a fall harvest & September for a spring harvest. It's hard to grow things around here in August, so I planted mine in September and didn't get peas until spring. Gurney had one called 'Dual' which says to plant mid-summer for fall harvest -- 66 days to maturity -- but I don't see it on their web site -- maybe Dakota will work for fall - it's only 57 days? http://gurneys.com/product.asp_Q_pn_E_66259 . You might want to give them or your favorite seed supplier a call and see what they recommend. Please let me know if you find one that works. Picture of Native Seed Search drying peas attached http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/cat.php?catID=32 in April this year.

edited for spelling

This message was edited Jul 10, 2006 6:21 PM

Jozeeben, your garden looks so pretty. What is it mulched with ?

I am going to try and do a fall crop of Peas also. This will be my first time trying. The variety I am going to grow is Sugarsnap. On my packet of seeds, it says to plant them 2 months before the expected frost.

I am also a zone 6a and I asked a local nursery about planting times. They told me to plant my first crop on July 27th. If you want to stagger your crop then they said you could plant them up until Aug. 6th. I hope it works!! I will have to let you know how it goes.

I hope that this helps you out Peggie. Good luck!! Keep me posted on your results.
Lissy

PeggieK - For mulch, we mostly use weedy-seedy scrap hay (thick) -- we bale our own mini-rounds and then roll it out in the garden or let the chickens shred it. I put wood chips between the rows if I have it and use shredded leaves or home made compost for the early heat loving crops (darker mulch raises soil temperature early). Hay keeps the ground cooler for cool weather crops. It does provide a cover for slugs & snails though, so we bait for small seedlings especially.

LissyJ - That sounds like a good plan! I wonder if misters would help keep them cool in August or give them powdery mildew? Can't wait to hear how it goes. We're a month later so I may try to throw some in at he end of August if I can free up some space by them. The way the tomatoes are looking (pffthtth), it probably won't be a problem!

Jozeeben- Wow it seems like you would have plenty of SPACE to throw in a fall crop of peas. I am jealous. Your gardens look great!! It looks pretty where you live. Tons of trees!

I have limited space in my yard so I really have to plan ahead what I would like to plant in my gardens in a given year. I just built 4 raised beds this year and I have been so excited about gardening in them. So far they have been great. The soil here in Stansbury Park is so bad that you have to use a dig bar to get through it. Raised beds are the only way to go! You Should have seen me try and plant tulips before I knew I needed to amend the soil. I have learned a lot since then, and now my gardens look so much better.

I hope that you free up some space, it will be fun for all of us to compair notes. As for the misters, I bet that I won't get my DH to do another "project" for a few years. Those beds are made out of cinder block and it about killed his back. Mine too. To save money we dug 80 ft. of trench (by hand) to hook up my gardens to our automatic sprinkling system. I do not recommend that to anyone. Rent a trencher!

I wanted to show you a picture of my gardens but my DC ran out of batteries!!! Dang thing uses too much juice. When I get to the store I will grab some and put a picture of the raised beds in here for you to see. They look really great right now with all of my tomatoes.

Lissy

Here is a picture of my raised beds that we built this summer. As you can see, my tomatoes LOVE it! I have 24 tomato plants.

I just prepped my last garden bed about a week ago and planted a fall garden of Sugar snap peas, beets, broccoli, radishes, and lettuce. I am really hoping that the peas do well! Here is a pic of them so far. They seem to be doing fine.

WOW! They look great. I was thinking about building some out of block. Do they have a footing and and do you have problems with frost heave? Love the mountains in the background -- I got to go skiing in Utah 27 years ago. It was awesome . . . . Do you plan to extend your harvest with row covers or a cold frame? I wasn't going to plant my peas until mid-August (too hot, dry & expensive to water). We've pulled most of our tomatoes and are working on a second crop. Some kind of blight gets them every year.

My fall peas were a bust. We had a couple of nights in the mid-teens in late November that zapped them all before we where able to get a harvest. Anybody else have any luck? The same freeze got all the cauliflower, broccolli and most of the lettuce. Spinach, cabbage, mache green onions and garlic are happy.