Growing peas is to gardening what boiling water is to cooking. Because cultivating peas require minimal skill, they’re probably the best vegetable for beginning gardeners. They:
- need no fertilizing
- can be planted directly into the soil as soon as the soil is workable (I planted mine in my Pawling garden over the weekend)
- do not require thinning
- display a delicate blossom before producing fruit that resembles a snap dragon
- are one of the earliest producers
- yields pea pods over a long period of time
- offer gardeners rewarding "gardening snacks" throughout the season.
The only things they require are supports to climb (a fence, a tepee style set of poles, a large branch stuck in the ground near its roots, or string tied to an overhead pole…) and occasional help as they begin climbing. They seem to be able wind around anything, but sometimes need a human hand to connect their curling stem to the support.
If you’ve never attempted peas before and need help determining where to begin, Barbara Pleasant, of Mother Earth News, offers these descriptions of the four categories of peas and detailed information on the website:
- Snap peas are eaten whole, and both the crunchy pod and the peas inside taste sweet. Snap peas yield more food per square foot than the other types.
- Snow peas produce tender, flat pods that are eaten whole. Snow peas also produce the most tender vine tips for adding to salads or stir-fries.
- Shell peas are often called English peas, because many fine varieties were developed in Great Britain in the 18th century. Sweet green peas are shelled from tough, inedible pods.
- Soup peas produce hard, starch-filled seeds for drying inside inedible pods. Seed size and color vary with variety.
Happy Spring
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