Grow peas on your windowsill

Perhaps you remember growing peas as a kid.  Usually with a Styrofoam base and plenty of wet cotton wool with frozen peas hidden away in there.  It was always great to see the little shoots finally growing out of the cotton wool, but like most things you probably got sick of it pretty quickly.  Great news, you can do it again, except this time we will kick things up a notch.  

Preparation

Place some frozen peas in a bowl full of water and leave to sit for 24-hours.  This will help to kick start the germination process. Prepare a container with 3 inches (7.6cm) depth of good quality compost.

Planting

Before planting the peas, generously water the compost and then place the peas on top.  Plant each pea approximately 1 inch (2.5cm) apart.  Cover the peas with 0.5 inches (1.2cm) of compost and water generously (again).  

Care

Peas do not need any real care apart from ensuring that the soil is kept very moist.  Water the plants daily.  Peas will begin to emerge within 1 week. Peas do not need any real care apart from ensuring that the soil is kept very moist. Click To Tweet  

Harvesting

Once the pods are big enough you can harvest them by pulling directly off the stem.  Be careful not to damage the main stem and don’t leave any ripened pods on the stem as these can drain the plant of valuable resources. Pods will continue to grow in the areas you have previously harvested providing a continuous supply.  Put the harvested pods in the fridge immediately to chill them.  If you are freezing these peas, do so as soon as they are harvested.  Home-grown frozen peas will last approximately 1 week. Unlike store-bought frozen peas, these home-grown versions only take a few seconds to fully cook.  Be careful not to overcook them.  They are also lovely when eaten raw.  Home-grown peas will taste a lot nicer than store-bought versions.