Mange Tout

[my-veg-patch-rules]

I have a friend who is a chef and he has asked me to grow mange tout, but to be honest I don' tknow anything about it. Any info would be great! :-)

[bridget mc laughlin]

Never hertil of it before but it sounds fancy

[Hazel at the Hill]

If you can grow peas, you can grow mange tout.

Seed readily available in the 'pea' section (Wilko, say), sow in march/april - plants will need some support so let them climb up some netting, then they will flower and form pods, and you pick the pods when they are flat and the peas have not started to swell.

[sez]

dead easy, grew mine in large pots last year with short canes for support, very quick to grow and very tasty!

[veg4681]

I have a friend who is a chef and he has asked me to grow mange 2, but to be honest I don' tknow anything about it. Any info would be great! :-)

The Oregon Sugar Pod is the commonly grown mangetout variety but you'll probably find them in Wilko or even B&Q brand seeds. See link below.

Pea : Mangetout : Oregon Sugar Pod

Norli is another variety but I don't see them around much.

[TonyF]

And you can also get mange tout beans.

If your chum wants the mange tout on a large scale, you'll use a lot of your lottie to keep him supplied.

[snake the squadie]

i tried last year but didnt have any sucses but who dares wins and all that i am having another try this year

[veg4681]

i tried last year but didnt have any sucses but who dares wins and all that i am having another try this year

Don't worry, you're not alone. My mangetout harvest was pathetic last year, starting from being nibbled badly by slugs as seedlings. It was partly my fault that I put too many plants per cane and didn't support them properly (using kitchen ties - now how sloppy is that!). Otherwise they're relatively easy to grow as I've had better years before. This time I may use chicken wire for the mangetout to climb up, this way I don't have to stress myself out wondering how many mangetout I should allow per cane. Somebody I know grows peas this way and looks very effective with ease of picking too.

[Sirius]

Last year was my first year of growing anything at all and we had so much mangetout we couldn't eat it all! It's definitely on my list of goodies this year, although I'm steeling myself not to expect the same results. We had 5 plants running up the outside back 'windows' of the greenhouse, and a further 3 inside and honestly couldn't keep up with them. Beginners luck perhaps, but they were soooo easy. We placed lines of string across the greenhouse so that as the plants grew higher, we could 'train' them in behind the string and keep the upright, worked a treat.

[Vegmonkey]

I've just planted some Mangetout - Oregon Sugar Pod in guttering and placed it in the cold frame. Remember that it is successional, so plant it at least once every 3 weeks to ensure you have a contant crop throughout the summer, not just early on. You harvest as soon as the pods start to swell.

Good luck.

[Polly Fouracre]

I always grow Carrouby de Maussone,available from most seed merchants.These are the flat,tasty pods seen in most restaurants.
They are very easy to grow(up canes like runner beans) and very prolific.

[veg4681]

I've just planted some Mangetout - Oregon Sugar Pod in guttering and placed it in the cold frame. Remember that it is successional, so plant it at least once every 3 weeks to ensure you have a contant crop throughout the summer, not just early on.
Good luck.

Am I missing something here? Why are they left in the coldframe (or even unheated greenhouse) when it can take substantially quicker to germinate indoors (mine germinated from day 3 onwards)? Are you purposely trying to delay them as it's still early yet. Mine are sitting in the unheated greenhouse to harden off, tallest one is around 5" or so.

[mozgreen]

I grew Oregon Sugar Pod a few years ago. Massive cropping for months but the flavour is not the best so I am going to try another variety this year.
OSP was sown directly into an open position (plenty of sunshine) in light soil that I had enriched in the bottom of the trench, for water retention, with well rotted manure. They got a good start and were soon able to outgrow the rate at which slugs attacked them. Needed water and picking daily in the summer though.
An excellent vegatable that was almost as space:crop efficient as runner beans. Has anyone any ideas for tastier varieties, though?

[Flummery]

My granddaughter loves them straight from the plant - she could be a bigger menace than pigeons! Mine were OSP too - and some were grown in the greenhouse to plant out when strong seedlings, the next lot went directly outside later in the year. They do need some support - netting is better than canes and string. Ask me how I know!

[BarleySugar]

My daughter used to love them, until we bought some from a supermarket. She bit one in half and found a maggot inside! Then she worried about all the ones she had already eaten, and how many maggots might have gone down with them! Now she won't touch them, and I must say it made me a bit wary.