Chop & drop now?

Most of my raised veggie beds have pea's at the moment.  They are almost done.  As soon as they are done, or maybe a bit before I will plant melons.  My question is with pea's there is a good amount of plant material, so do I still chop & drop all around the little melon plants?  Put some down, and the rest in the compost, or should I put it all in the compost since I am planting right away?
Thanks for your help.  I hate chop & drop, because it looks so messy, but I do it because it's good for the soil, plants, ECT.

I've been using the whole plants to mulch my potatoes as they get harvested & start looking rough. They seem to break down pretty quickly. After a few warm, sunny days I can hardly tell where I used them as mulch.

hey,
if you don't like the chop and drop method you can use them on your compost pile and use other mulch or compost to cover your ground.
Just remember to cut them from the ground and leave the roots in, because peas are nitrogen fixators and when you cut it that's when the roots (or the bacteria actually) give the nitrogen back to your soil. Which is beneficial for your high demanding melons.

Jen,

By all means, do chop & drop now if you want to try it.  There is really no bad time to do it.  Last year I did something similar with peas and zucchini.  I planted peas, mostly for nitrogen & quick plant material, and then cut them down when I was ready to plant my “real” crop of zucchini.  

Peas are a great chop & drop plant.  I say go for it.

Eric