How many pea plants would you need to feed a family of four?

I currently have 7 plants and have sown more in the past couple of days. Of the 7 all are flowering and I have, roughly, half a dozen developing pods. Having a dozen pods really are not going to feed my family in one sitting

Next year, I think I need to increase my efforts - hence the question: how many plants would I need?

 

Just a thought but have you considered Mange Tout instead of Peas. I don't grow peas anymore as found that Mange Tout give you a quicker bigger crop for the same number of plants. I have 8 plants growing in the greenhouse (nearly finished now) which I grow for an early crop, and another 8 plants on the way to flowering outside. I find 8 plants is absolutely heaps for 3 people. The only down side is Mange Tout really are quite foul if you freeze them but absolutely delicious cooked (about 2 mins max) and also lovely raw in a salad. Even up here in the frozen North! I can get a late crop if I grow them in the greenhouse up to about November.

 

Thank you @silu - that is a very helpful post and much appreciated. Taking notes here

 

Oh, would you suggest a particular variety?

 

Hi @"M" I think they are just sold as Sugar Snap Peas i think but happy to be corrected by others. I know @JWK grows them and he might know if there are lots of different varieties. I usually save seed by letting a few pods go to maturity when they look pretty much like ordinary Peas. Dry the peas seeds and bobs your uncle for the following season,,,simples! Cost to produce post initial outlay of a packet of seeds zero.

 

Thank you, (again!) @silu ... you definitely make my gardening experience more ... prolific!

 

Ah but is this a good thing @"M"?

 

Absolutely!

I'm just not going to seek your advice on ...





... potatoes

 

Just you wait @"M":rasp:,the ones growing outside are looking magnificent...........above ground, below no doubt will be on a par with the efforts so far, from the ones in bags.

 

"When I grew peas, about a hundred years ago, I used to take out a flat bottomed drill about 6ins wide and scatter the seeds.
Today they just fanny around planting one here and one there on their "deep beds".
I used to have rows at least 15 ft long.

And I always grew "hurst greenshaft".

 

Agree with pete, Hurst Greenshaft are a good variety of Pea but still changed from growing those to Mange Tout. I did not, however, grow miles of peas a la pete!

 

Im hoping to feed 3/4 off 3 4ft rows of peas, early onward, onward and hgs.. bunged whole pack in lengths of gutter ..I did have to thin them badly mind!

Sowing my next lot soon.. maybe less than half a pack to each gutter this time

 

@"M" , when I did grow a few veg , I did grow Mangetout and SugarSnaps. Both really tasty raw or cooked . I grew Mangetout Oregon and Sugar Snap - Sugar Anne , both good croppers . You can get a packet on Ebay for £0.99 each