Video: Plant Gutter Peas

If you’ve been following me for a few years, you know exactly what gutter peas are. But if you’re new to me, allow me to explain why this technique is so awesome!

Gutter peas involve planting pea seeds closely together in rain gutters. The fun begins once the seedlings are a few inches tall and have developed a thick mat of roots. At that point, you dig a trench (or two) in your pea bed. Then hold the gutter at a sharp angle and slide those seedlings right in. It’s a very quick transplanting process.

Why grow gutter peas? Well, if you have issues with rodents or birds eating the seeds or tiny seedlings, this is for you! In our case, we have a lot of California quail in our garden. While we love watching these gorgeous birds, they love to eat freshly-sprouted seeds. It is so annoying!

As I explain in the video, I first heard of British gardeners using this technique. They do this method to keep mice from eating the seeds in their gardens. It immediately seemed like a great solution to our problem. And I was right!

Wondering about the gutters I use? I went to a local home center and bought two 8-foot-long plastic gutters. I cut each one in half because 4-foot-long gutters are much easier to work with. I never bought the end caps for them because they were quite expensive. Instead, I just seal the ends with either duct tape or a combination of cardboard and blue painter’s tape each year. The gutters are still in perfect condition after all these years so they’ve been a good investment.

Which variety am I growing?

‘Green Arrow’ is our favorite variety of shelling pea. But you could certainly use this is planting technique for all other types of peas.

When did I start my gutter peas?

I planted the seeds in them on March 22 and transplanted them into the garden on April 22.

What about supporting peas?

As I mentioned in the video, peas definitely need supports to climb on. Many years ago, I planted a variety that the seed packet seed indicated would not require support. What happened? Well, the plants grew great until they reached about 15″ in height. Then they fell all over the place and as you can imagine, harvesting them was a nightmare! I decided then and there that I would not be fooled into skipping the supports ever again.

You can provide the plants with a trellis or a wire grid to grow up on. Or you can do like we do: use pruned tree branches and get creative! (see photos below)

Here’s this week’s Plant Gutter Peas video:

Here’s another photo of how we use branches to support the peas:

Did you enjoy this week’s video? I have 600+ gardening videos on my YouTube channel. I also have a Vegetable Gardening Videos playlist so you can pick and choose what you’d like to watch.

Remember that I have a guide to growing peas on my website. Just click on that link to go to it. And yes, it is FREE!

I also have a video that shows the entire process of growing gutter peas, from seed to planting. Here’s a link to it on my YouTube channel.