Feltham First as mange tout?

[pjh75]

I'm growing these for the first time this year and not doing very well... when the pods look nice and fat to me, I pick them but there are only small peas inside. The ones that I leave on the plant to get a bit fatter, just turn a dull green and then dry out / go mouldy....... so, can they be eaten as mange tout? It's a lot easier to work out when to pick those.

[tootles]

There is (rather like with pears) a 5 minute gap between the two!
You can try them as mangetout, but might they not be a bit stringy??

[pjh75]

Thanks tootles, maybe I'll try one as mange tout and see what it's like.

[Two_Sheds]

I don't find the flavour of Feltham all that.
Last year I grew mange tout as garden peas and they were much nicer (I hate mange tout)

[Flummery]

I love mangetout - but Himself feels like Two sheds does! I find that most peas can be eaten as mangetout - they don't get the tough insides until they're a bit more mature. In fact, that's the way I usually eat purple podded peas as they tend to be a bit starchy and certainly not very sweet as a mature pea but as a small mangetout on a salad or a bit bigger lightly steamed they're great.

[tamsin]

The feltham first I grow turned into peas but tasted kinda icky. My mum said they were like 'garden peas' not the petit pois we're used too buying.

On the other hand the carouby de maussane are growing like crazy and producing giant mange tout, they start turning into peas really quick and are tastier. They are also 5' tall so more pea for the space too.

[Lemon]

I don't like mange tout - hence I don't grow it. However I MUCH rather the taste of sugar snaps - delish! Am trying Sugar Ann this year and hope she's as good as Cascadia has been in the past.