Local advice from our friend Elizabeth:
Hi All, I have been trying a new technique (at least for me) of starting peas in sections of guttering (which I got at Resource) in the greenhouse, growing them on until they are about 4 inches tall, and then transferring them to a trench in the garden. So far it seems to be working fairly well. The peas germinate really fast and grow quickly in the greenhouse. You could probably do it in a house too. I plug up the ends of the guttering with a piece of foam and duct tape. When I am ready to transfer them, I dig a trench, remove the foam and duct tape, spread the sides of the guttering away from the soil, and slide them out of the guttering into the trench. The sliding is the tricky part. I have found it takes two people to go well: one to guide and encourage the peas along, and one to lift and shake the guttering, as you have to get it to a fairly steep angle for the peas to slide. I’m using galvanized guttering, but plastic might work better as it would be smoother. So far they have adapted well to the outdoors, and we shall see how they grow on and produce. There’s lots of videos of this on the web. Thought this might be a good solution to slow germination in our really unpredictable springs.