[Bodmass]

Pulling back the fleece covering some overwintering peas today & I noticed that there is some sort of green moss-type growth on the soil. 

Any one care to reassure me that it's normal & harmless 


(Sorry if it's a dumb question, but I've never had so much as a garden before)

[Yorkie]

It's probably OK - how damp is the soil and is it shaded (apart from the fleece)?

[DD.]

It is just moss. It does not harm and will disappear when you hoe the soil.

[shokkyy]

Hard to be sure from the photo, but it actually looks more like lichen than moss. Either way, it's completely harmless and doesn't take any nutrition from the soil. If it's moss it might be an indication of poor drainage in the soil, because a lot of mosses prefer damp, shaded conditions, but some mosses aren't that fussy where they grow. Lichen will grow just about anywhere. It probably just means you've got quite a bit of lichen and/or moss growing in the area so there's a lot of spores flying around.

[Bodmass]

Thanks folks.  Figured it was likely harmless, just thought I'd check.  On speaking to the boss she tells me there was a patch where the onions & garlic are too & she just hoed it over.

fwiw the plot has no shade & is near the top of a small gentle slope so drainage shouldn't be a problem - well, until the river at the bottom of the slope floods anyway 

[gobs]

Uncultivated areas also develop them without any drainage problems, so no need to worry, I think.