Peas sir, can I have some more?

As a well-known Rupert has found out, cultivating a successor can come fraught with difficulty. And I'm not talking about the Bear.

Succession planting should be easy. Every seed packet tells you when to plant and when to pick. As does every self-respecting kitchen garden book. And you also know how many seeds you plant. So with a bit of basic maths and planning you can set yourself up for a glutinous summer.

As a planner by trade, how it came to this I'll never know:

I blame May. Not only did average garden tasks fall by the wayside, my hopeful plans to create a lasting supply of fresh vegetables took a battering. Every now and again I would pot up some peas or beans in pots, but again would fail to plant them out. These also went the way of the pods above.

So on 25 June, having dug up potatoes and blessed with an empty container. I chucked in some peas in the hope that I might get lucky.

Yep, just chucked 'em in.

A month later, and I couldn't be more excited. These little solitare beauties have responded with vigour and within weeks have provided healthy green shoots, leaves and those funny but tough little climbers that hang on like a baby's grip. And a fresh harvest of peas is only weeks away.