Peas are normally something we sow in spring. In October I attended a garden festival which had a stand of seeds you could exchange or just take. I came across some peas that were called winter peas, more specifically the sort Winterkefe.

Winterkefe is a sugar pea, that is, the kind you eat with hull and everything. The nice thing about this pea is that it can be sown in the winter and thereby harvested much earlier.

In mid-November I put the 20 peas I got in a bowl of water for 24 hours. Then every single pea was planted in pots of soil and put in the greenhouse.  

Today, the 24^th of November, I checked on them. They are in the part of my greenhouse that is not protected from frost. I have chosen that because they are supposed to tolerate frost. So, what did I see? The sprouts are peeking from the soil. Now they just need little water to grow further. I will transplant them at the end of February or start March, depending on the weather. I might protect them from frost when I transplant them.

In the greenhouse, I have put the small pots in a large bricklayer tub with drainage of Leca. It also insulates a bit even though it is not necessary. It is a tub I usually use for my Agapanthus during the summer, but those plants have been moved to a plant hotel without their tub as a flowerpot. They take up too much room in my own plant hotel.

I also use my greenhouse for overwintering plants. I have divided up the greenhouse in rooms, where 1/3 is for my overwintering citrus and olive tree. The olive tree tolerates a little frost and down to a maximum of 18 minus degrees for a single night, but not more than that. I have a gas heater in the greenhouse to warm it up when it is frosty weather. It regulates the temperature itself to the temperature I have set it to. I have had the heater for 3 years now, and it works very well.