How to grow Garden peas

How to grow Garden peas - Introduction

• • Peas are well-suited to cooler temperate climates, when temperatures exceed 20C (70F), most varieties of peas will stop producing pods.

  • Peas are part of the legume family of vegetables, which extract nitrogen from the air and store it in little nodules along their roots.

  • For this reason, when the plants finish cropping, dig the roots directly into the soil, where they will slowly decompose and release nitrogen for other plants to use.

  • By staggering your plantings and choosing heat-resistant varieties, you can enjoy fresh-from-the-garden peas from spring through to autumn, no matter where you live.

  • Taller, vining varieties can perform double duty in the garden as not only do they produce heavier yields than their dwarf, bush cousins, but trained on a fence or trellis they're also beautiful, with blue-green foliage and white or lavender flowers.

How to grow Garden peas - Crop rotation

• • If a legume crop has been grown on a bed in the last three years, then it should not be asked to support anther legume crop.

  • The crop leaves behind it a rich nitrogen enriched soil, which should be utilised by other crops in the following year, especially members of the Cabbage Family.

How to grow Garden peas - Companion planting

• • Peas do well when grown alongside carrot, celery, corn, cucumber, eggplant, early potato, radish, spinach, pepper, or turnip.

How to grow Garden peas - Site & Soil

• • Peas prefer full sun to partial shade with a soil pH of 6.0-7.0. and require a well-drained, rich and sandy soil.

  • Work organic matter, including rotted manure or compost into the soil for best results.

  • Grow peas in raised beds if your soil is so heavy it can't be made compatible very easily.

  • Do not add nitrogen to the soil before planting (or after) - peas extract nitrogen from the air sufficient for the needs.

• An over-rich soil will cause lots of leafy growth, but a reduced cop of peas.

  • Peas like moisture, so do not plant too near walls or fences.

  • Maincrop peas are tall leggy plants (1.8 m / 6 ft), and they can easily be damaged if planted in areas exposed to high wind.

  • Remember that the taller varieties will cast quite a shadow over any other crops nearby.

• A suggestion is to use the space around the pea plants for smaller shade-tolerant vegetables - lettuces and radishes are an excellent choice.

  • Prepare the soil in December to allow it to settle.

  • Dig to at least a spade's depth (the roots of peas like to grow deeply), incorporating as much organic material as possible.

  • Peat (or peat substitute) is fine because peas 'fix' nitrogen into their roots from the air and have little need for a nitrogen rich soil.

  • Add a handful of bonemeal (two if the soil is poor) per square metre (yard), and incorporate it into the top soil.

How to grow Garden peas - Sowing seed

• • Peas can be sown direct into the soil where they will grow, or into pots indoors, where they can be germinated under warm, controlled conditions and increase the final yield.

  • Peas can either be planted in small compost filled pots or, in a length of guttering (so they can easily be slid into their final growing bed later), or directly planted in the ground in the summer.

  • Whichever approach you use, sow the seeds 1 inch deep and 2 inches apart.

  • To increase the successful germination rate, soak the pea seeds in water for a few hours before planting.

  • Seedlings should appear within a couple of weeks.

How to grow Garden peas - Care & Cultivation

• • Pea vines are delicate and break easily.

  • Once they've grown up, don't poke about in their vicinity any more than you have to until harvest time.

How to grow garden peas - Harvesting

• • As a rule of thumb, expect peas to be ready for picking about three weeks after the plants begin to flower.

  • For best tasting peas, harvest as pods become plump, but are still young and tender.

  • When you pick, is partially personal preference.

    • If you prefer small, sweet peas, pick early.

    • Experiment until you find which size and flavour you prefer.

  • Pick peas regularly to promote continued production.

Garden Peas

• • • When the pea pods are swollen (appear round) they are ready to be picked.

    • Pick a few pods every day or two near harvest time to determine when the peas are at the proper stage for eating.

    • Peas are of the best quality when they are fully expanded but immature, before they become hard and starchy.

    • Peas should be picked immediately before cooking because their quality, especially sweetness (like that of sweet corn), deteriorates rapidly.

    • The pods on the lower portion of the plant mature earliest.

    • The last harvest (usually the third) is made about one week after the first.

    • Pulling the entire plant for the last harvest makes picking easier.

Sugar Snap Peas

• • • Snap peas should be harvested every 1 or 3 days, similarly to snow peas to get peak quality.

    • Sugar snaps are at their best when the pods first start to fatten but before the seeds grow very large.

    • At this point, the pods snap like green beans and the whole pod can be eaten.

    • Some varieties have strings along the seams of the pod that must be removed before cooking.

    • Sugar snaps left on the vine too long begin to develop tough fibre in the pod walls. These must then be shelled and used as other garden peas, with the fibrous pods discarded.

    • Vining types of both sugar snap and snow peas continue to grow taller and produce peas as long as the plant stays in good health and the weather stays cool.

Snow Peas

• • • These varieties are generally harvested before the individual peas have grown to the size of BBS, when the pods have reached their full length but are still quite flat. This stage is usually reached 5 to 7 days after flowering.

    • Snow peas must be picked regularly (at least every other day) to assure sweet, fibre-free pods.

• • Pods can be stir-fried, steamed or mixed with oriental vegetables or meat dishes.

  • As soon as overgrown pods missed in earlier pickings are discovered, remove them from the plants to keep the plants blooming and producing longer.

  • Enlarging peas inside these pods may be shelled and used as garden peas.

  • Fat snow pea pods (minus the pea enlarging inside) should be discarded.

  • Fibres that develop along the edges of larger pods, along with the stem and blossom ends, are removed during preparation.

  • Pea pods lose their crispness if overcooked.

  • The pods have a high sugar content and brown or burn quickly.

  • Do not stir-fry over heat that is too intense.

How to grow Garden peas - Storing & Preserving

• • Pea pods can be stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for two weeks.

  • Unlike fresh green peas, pea pods deteriorate only slightly in quality when stored.