Does anyone grow pea shoots?

dander

I'm wondering how best to grow them, since they get cut so small. How deep would any soil need to be and could I just put vermiculite on top rather than covering the seeds with soil - I'm just hoping to keep the shoots as clean as possible so they don't get damaged washing them. 
Any experiences?

Indigo_and_Violet

There is a guy on instagram - @vertical_veg - who featured pea shoots this week. He had them growing in old fruit/veg crates, so soil maybe 7-10cm deep? He's quite responsive so might be worth asking him about the vermiculite vs cleaning. 

LessImpecunious

Pea shoots are pretty robust (and can get tough quite quickly, especially the tendrils) so think they're unlikely to be damaged much by washing...

RAS

Have done but they need picking young, and within a relatively short period or they get tough. Commercial ones seem to be forced (grown with heat) to encourage sappy growth.

Technically any old pea will do; I used a packet of reduced marrowfat peas. But I think that I'd try sugar snaps or mangetout as they'd probably stay less tough. And they need watering regularly.

You do get several harvests, once the tip is harvested the nodes below break and produce side shoots.

But do consider how many you want/will use. A small tray planted at 1" (old money) intervals provided more than enough for one, with the first flush followed by a staggered harvest from the side shoots.

As a window sill or conservatory crop where you can keep in eye on them, great but I was doing too much outside work to keep an eye on them longer term.