When to plant Peas
Calendar windows
Dates shift with your latitude — they are calculated from your local last-spring-frost date, not from a fixed calendar.
At a glance
Takes frost; can go out weeks before the last one.
Practical notes
Sow as early as the soil can be worked — peas hate heat and finish before midsummer. Give even the "dwarf" varieties netting to climb; they crop far better off the ground.
Knowing when to pick
Pick shelling peas when the pods are round but still bright green, from the bottom of the plant up. Mangetout goes before the peas show at all.
Storing the crop
Sugar starts turning to starch within hours — shell and freeze the same day for anything not eaten fresh.
Crop rotation
Follow legumes with a leafy crop — the nitrogen they fix in their roots is free fertiliser.
Grows well with
Keep apart from
Watch for
Full guide: peas diseases and pests (4) → with spread routes, compost verdicts and the prevention this list justifies.