Any pea experts out there to help me with my pea sowing dilemma this year? We're going to be out of the country from 26 June to 16th July and I don't want to miss out on my Kelvendon Wonder pea crop which I'd like to be able to pick on our return. Am not sure I'll be able to pick any before we go.

I obviously don't want to sow them so they crop while we're away. An enquiry on the internet tells me that sowing to germination for peas can be between 55 - 80 days but doesn't mention specific varieties.

Can anybody suggest when I ought to sow my first & second batches?

Dear Primrose,
according to the cultuiral notes on the Moles website early peas take 12 weeks to crop, seconds take 14 weeks and main crop take 16 weeks. this may be of use.
Regards Sally Wright.

Sowing to cropping times should always be taken as guidance only, because in reality peas are subject to fluctuations in temperature, which have a direct influence on the time it takes for peas to mature and crop, measured in day degrees. In practice, what this amounts to is that the crop will mature earlier if the weather is on average warmer for the duration of the peas' growing. Common sense bears this out, but it does allow us to fairly accurately predict when a crop will mature based on the mean temperature for any particular calendar period. Peas in British seed catalogues get roughly categorised as early, intermediate and main crop, but most American seed catalogues give more precise day degree ratings for varieties. This is in acknowledgement of them selling to customers experiencing wildly different conditions across a continent.

EDIT: Kelvedon Wonder's day degree index is 65 days. So, pick a date when you would prefer to harvest your peas and work back 65 days from that and you will get a reasonable prediction as to when to sow.

13 weeks to 16 weeks is average time but it totally depends on the climate there. Which place do you belong from? Tell something about the climate there.