What is the best way to plant sweet peas from seed?

I have an old gardening book with about three pages of somewhat conflicting advice. The universal element appears to be well aged manure and secondarily, lots of well rotted leaves.





I have never had success with annual sweet peas (although I do have the perennial) in all my years of gardening and I have river bottom soil in my garden. This year, I added lots of chicken manure and decaying leaves to various areas of the garden and planted sweet peas. I soaked some of the seeds, did not soak others - I will see what happens. The seeds should be sprouting shortly. Mid April is about as late as the seeds can be planted here in Ohio, Zone 5b. A lot of the directions say to plant as soon as the soil can be worked. Once the weather heats up, there is no chance at all.

What is the best way to plant sweet peas from seed?
soak them in a saucer of water and kitchen paper for a week or more until they sprout.then plant out in pots or outside if weather is suitable.

horns