Douce Provence

Monday, 14 September 2009 13:11

Description: A traditional French high yielding variety, with tender sweet peas. Ht 60cm. A tried and tested, early maturing, round-seeded variety, producing a good crop of sweet, tender peas. It is semi-dwarf and may be grown without trellis or with just some twiggy branches stuck in the row to brace the plants a bit. The pods form and fill early with ultra-sweet, flavorful peas for that first dish of petits pois. How to sow & grow Douce Provence Peas: For early cropping: Sow under protection in trays or modules February to March. Set out when large enough to handle 5" apart in interspaced double rows 24" apart. (can also be direct sown as per 'main cropping' under cloches February to March. For main cropping: Sow March to July 5" apart in rows 24" apart. Sow in 2" deep drills. For over-wintering: Sow (either outside or under protection) October to November 5" apart in rows 18" apart. Sow in 2" deep drills. Top tips: Protect newly sown seeds from mice. Mice are notorious in 'sniffing out' seed of this nature! Pheasants love young pea plants and will dig up the plants to eat the sprouted seed so take precautions (especially with Autumn sowings) if you have pheasants in your area. Protect young plants from pigeons. Young pea shoots are a real delight to eat raw in salads. A good precaution to prevent damage from Pea Moth or Pea Weevil is to spray the entire plant (flowers included) with BioFriend Plant Defence periodically during the flowering period. Water well if the weather is dry when the pods are swelling. Regular picking will encourage further flowering and subsequent cropping. Peas freeze well so better to pick regularly and freeze any excess as this will keep the plants producing. After harvesting dig the plants into the ground to provide green manure and valuable nitrogen to the soil. Go to table of pea varieties