“Champion of England” Tall Pea

Rescued and re-introduced by us in 2010, here’s your chance to grow a UK heirloom that had been commercially extinct for years.

A really good, traditional tall pea to 8 - 10 ft, dating from the 1840's. But it was unavailable, other than seedbanks, for a long time. A few people had sent us small samples of old seed from time to time, but we couldn't get them to grow. All that changed though when Robert Woodbridge got in touch with family-saved seed from Lincolnshire in the 1940's:

I am going to send you some seeds of a Pea called Champion of England, my grandmother grew it in her very large garden in the village of Pickworth Lincs, I promised that I would always grow it and keep it going. She got the seed from the head gardener at a big country house during the war where my grandfather worked as a carpenter repairing wooden greenhouses and cold frames.

It grew really well, and more importantly, was true to the old descriptions. It was fantastic - the only reason tall peas have been abandoned commercially is that you can't harvest them with machines. But for home gardeners, they give a great return for a small space.

An amazing find- the genuine tall strain, well maintained over the years, and we even know the location it came from. Robert's grandmother would have been pleased to know her seeds have saved this variety for gardeners everywhere.

Practically extinct until we rescued it. As it is (like all our seeds) real seed - not a hybrid - you can of course keep your own seed for resowing.

approx 100 seed £3.39

“Lord Leicester” Tall Pea

Another variety we rescued - a fantastic traditional UK pea that is sadly commercially extinct, but we managed to regenerate it starting with just a tiny handful of peas which we tracked down in a private seed collection in USA.

So here you are, a wonderful old pea brought back from the verge of extinction. It grows to about 5 or 6 ft tall, and the special thing about Lord Leicester is that starts to flower very early on, but carries on to almost the end of the season - so you get peas over a long period. The yield is good too - just look at all those pods in the picture!

As far as we know, this is now extinct, other than our crop - hence the smaller packet. But 60 or so seeds should be plenty to be honest, as it is really productive. And as it is (like all our seeds) real seed - not a hybrid - you can of course keep your own seed for resowing.

approx 50 seed, organic. £3.47

“Magnum Bonum” Tall Pea

We are absolutely delighted to have Magnum Bonum available again. The really notable thing about this variety is its fantastic flavour. It is somewhat later to flower and produce pods than our other tall peas - you'll need to wait 2-3 weeks longer to get your crop. But it is very much worth the wait - the peas are sweet, but also have a really outstanding taste. 

We suspect you'll eat most of your crop raw before they even leave the garden! If you like it, DO save your own seed, as we don't have the space to grow seed every year.

Small packet due to limited stock - but saving your own pea seed is very easy (they don't cross) and we supply full instructions, so if you set aside a small number of plants you can then have unlimited supplies in future years!

aprox 70 seed, organic. £3.33

Rosakrone

An heirloom from Sweden, with beautiful red/pink flowers borne in large bunches ("Rosakrone" = "red crowns") above the foliage. The peas are best eaten small as petit pois; after they mature they can go a bit starchy and then are best boiled & mashed as marrowfat peas.

It grows to around 4 - 5 foot tall, and looks stunning on a wigwam or peasticks for a decorative feature. Given to us by Vivi Logan, we are delighted to add this to our collection.

Clusters of flowers followed by clusters of delicious peas! Grown by us in Pembrokeshire.

approx 50-55 seed, organic. £3.47

Telephone Pea -VERY TALL

A well known and much loved tall pea - six foot plus - that we recommend as an early-maincrop pea. It hasn't really changed from the description of 'Carter's Telephone Pea' in Vilmorin's famous book of 1885 on vegetable gardening.

It has heavy yields of large pods with sweet, non-starchy peas inside. We find that the pods always swell up a bit before the peas fill out, so don't be fooled into picking too early! We find it's best to check a couple of pods first before picking lots - not too much of a hardship!

Wrinkled seed, stays sweet longer in pods - but don't sow in cold wet conditions.

about 150 seed £2.99