asparagus pea
asparagus pea or Lotus tetragonolobus
- Position: Full sun
- Soil: Moderately-fertile, well-drained soil
- Garden care: Pick regularly to ensure continuous cropping. Large pods tend to become stringy and fibrous. To cook, just top and tail the pods and steam or lightly boil.
- Sowing instructions: Sow direct outside under cloches from late spring into a sunny spot with free-draining soil, spacing seeds 5cm apart in shallow drills about 1.5cm deep. Cover seedlings with netting in the early stages to protect from birds, and protect from slugs.
- Sow: April to May
- Harvest: June to August
- Approximate quantity: 50 seeds
A low-growing ground cover plant with gorgeous maroon flowers. These are followed by a prolific crop of unusual winged pods, which should be picked young, at about 2.5cm long and eaten whole: they have a delicate flavour similar to asparagus. Allow plants to scramble prettily over the edges of your veg beds or support with twiggy pea sticks.
Goes well with...
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Kitchen garden cloche
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rocket - wild
wild rocket or Diplotaxis tenuifolia
approx 6000 seeds
-
pea (early) 'Early Onward'
pea ( early pea ) or Pisum sativum 'Early Onward'
approx 350 seeds
-
lettuce (semi-cos) 'Winter Density'
lettuce (semi-cos) or Lactuca sativa 'Winter Density'
approx 1400 seeds
-
pak choi 'Joi Choi' F1
pak choi - Chinese cabbage or Brassica rapa (Chinensis Group) 'Joi Choi' F1
approx 125 seeds
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Raised bed
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Small wire cloches - set of 3
Ø21.5 × H20cm
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Insectonet plastic free insect netting
2.1m × 5m