Gadenin日本語Get the appThe cut height decides everything
A pea seedling carries buds in the axils of its lowest leaves, tucked in tight against the stem an inch or so above the compost. Those buds are the whole regrowth mechanism. Leave them on the plant and each one pushes out a new shoot within a few days. Take them off with the harvest and there is nothing left to grow from, because peas do not resprout from the base the way a cut-and-come-again salad leaf does.
So cut above the lowest pair of leaves, which usually means somewhere between one and one and a half inches (2.5 to 4 cm) above the compost. It feels wasteful to leave that much stem behind, and it is the difference between one harvest and three.
Shear the whole block at once with scissors, holding a handful of stems in the other hand so the crop does not scatter. A tray takes about a minute this way, and cutting the whole block level means the regrowth comes back level too.
| Cut height | What is left behind | Regrowth |
|---|---|---|
| At compost level | Bare stumps, no leaves | None; pull the tray and resow |
| 1 to 1.5 in (2.5 to 4 cm) above compost | The lowest pair of leaves and their buds | Full second cut in 10 to 14 days |
| Just the top 2 in (5 cm) of each shoot | Most of the stem and several leaf pairs | Fast but thin; stems get stringy |
Cut at the tendril stage, before the stems turn stringy
The crop is ready when the shoots stand four to six inches (10 to 15 cm) tall and carry two or three pairs of true leaves with the first curling tendrils just showing. In a warm room that is ten to fourteen days from sowing; in a cool one, or outdoors in spring, it can be three weeks. Go by the look of the crop, not by the calendar.
The tendrils are the signal to cut, not a sign you are late. They are excellent eating, sweet and crisp. What you are trying to get ahead of is the stage a few days later, when the base of each stem starts to firm up and go fibrous. At that point the tips are still good but the lower inch is chewy, and you end up trimming away half of what you cut.
Taste a shoot rather than guessing. Sweet and crunchy all the way down the stem means cut now. A stem that squeaks between your teeth or needs a second chew means the block is a day or two past its best and you should take it all today.
How many cuts you actually get
Two full cuts is the honest answer for a tray of compost indoors, with a third that is worth taking but noticeably thinner. Each cut takes something out of the seed reserve that is not replaced, so the shoots come back a little finer and a little slower every time.
Outdoors in a bed, where roots can go down and find both water and nitrogen, three cuts is normal and a spring band in good soil sometimes gives four before it tires.
- First cut, 10 to 21 days from sowing The heaviest and sweetest of the lot. Shear the whole block above the lowest leaf pair. Water the tray from below immediately afterwards; the stumps are exposed and dry out quickly in the first day.
- Second cut, 10 to 14 days later Around two thirds the weight of the first, and just as good to eat. Cut at the same height again. This is where an outdoor crop pulls ahead, because it has a root system to draw on.
- Third cut, if the stand still looks green Thinner and slower. Take it if the regrowth is even and the base of the stand is still clean, and skip it if you can see yellowing or any white fuzz down among the stumps.
- Clear and start again When regrowth is patchy or the stumps go yellow, tip the whole block onto the compost pile, roots and all, and sow a fresh tray. Do not try to nurse a fourth cut out of it.
Storing what you cut, and what to record
Cut into a bowl, not onto a board, and do not wash the shoots unless you have to. Damp pea shoots go slimy fast. Loose in a bag or a lidded box in the fridge they hold for four or five days, but the sweetness is at its peak within the first hour, so cut what you are eating that day and leave the rest growing.
If the shoots have wilted between the tray and the kitchen, stand the cut ends in cold water for twenty minutes and they come back almost entirely.
For each sowing, write down the date you sowed, the date of each cut, and roughly what each cut weighed or how many bowls it filled. That short list tells you two things you cannot get any other way: how long your own conditions take to reach cutting size at different times of year, and the point at which a tray stops being worth the windowsill space. Note the cut height too, because a tray cut a little too low will show up in that record as a second cut that never came.