[Kristen]

I suppose if the beds are only 4ft wide (which mine are) then I could reach in fairly easily or put a plank down to stand on while picking.

We never walk on the beds here either, but I am disciplined to pick from both sides rather than tying to "cheat" from one side only.  If you have enough you can pick one-side one day and other-side the next - I pick my Asparagus like that, as the bed is quite long.

I'm hoping to do a total of 18 metres of peas this year, and I quail at the thought of all those modules.

That part always bothered me about folk that grow peas in pots / modules.  Bit like Carrots in loo rolls ... its a heck of a lot of pots/plants each of which is low yielding ...

I grow my Peas in guttering and then slide-plant into a shallow trench. Enables me to put the guttering up-high in such a way that mice cannot possibly get to it whilst the seed is germinating.

[Snoop]

I grow my Peas in guttering and then slide-plant into a shallow trench. Enables me to put the guttering up-high in such a way that mice cannot possibly get to it whilst the seed is germinating.

Are your lengths of guttering the same length as across your beds (4 feet) or shorter? I've heard that peas in guttering aren't quite as easy to get into the soil as it might seem. Maybe sliding in the seedlings in sideways, as someone on here suggests, rather than shoving them from one end would work well, especially if I use short lengths of guttering that are a bit easier to womanhandle. Do you press the peas firmly into the soil once you've got them in their trench? Anything that could make 18 metres of peas easier would be helpful.

I'll also have to see what guttering Mr Snoop can come up with from his pile of 'junk'. The only problem with that is that every time I ask him for something, it just provides him with a good excuse to point out how useful our private tip is and to collect yet more stuff! 

[Kristen]

My guttering is 8' long on the basis that I only have to "suspend" half as many length, to keep the mice off, compared to the lengths being 4' long.  But other than that 4' long would do of course ...

I don't have a problem sliding 4' of peas out of an 8' length of guttering, but I did read that other people had problems.  My plants are fairly well developed by the time they are planted out (and have been hardened off), so pressing the peas down probably not relevant in my case.  I sort of earth-up the sides after the guttering-length is in place (and I water the shallow trench before planting-out - my thinking is that if the soil is wet under the plants the roots will head downwards in search of moisture)

[Annen]

I have used guttering for the last few years and you're right, Snoop it in't as easy as it looks, but it isn't hard either, just takes a bit of easing here and there.   I found the difficult bits were
a, stopping the soil from falling out the ends, and b, stopping the guttering from rocking about.
To solve a, I just duct tape the ends up every year and b, I screwed some gutter brackets to the wooden frame of the green house and they go up there leaving my bench free.

[Snoop]

Thanks Kristen and Annen. That's a very inspiring photo, Annen. I'm definitely going to give it a go. I had all the supports ready and about 200 modules of peas ready last year, but they just didn't go in because I didn't have time to plant them out. Even if I lose some because I mess up the transfer, it can't be anything like as bad as last year. Excellent advice. I'm off to have a look at the guttering now...

Modified to add: No sooner said than done. I now have two lengths of guttering, around 1.5 m long each and 20 cm or so across at the top. Time to get sowing! Thanks for the advice.

Sorry for hijacking your thread, jambop. I hope you find the info useful too.

[Kristen]

b) stopping the guttering from rocking about.

The guttering I blagged!! for this purpose has a flat-bottom profile. Something like this: