Garden Peas, Snow Peas & Snap Peas
Peas are a cool-season vegetable that is usually grown in the early spring, but also can be grown in the fall in northern states. Peas are very hardy and will tolerate frosts after they have sprouted.
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Garden peas vs. Snap peas - Garden peas are those plants grown for centuries in vegetable gardens that produce green pods in which there is a row of cylindrical peas. The pods are not edible, but the peas taste wonderful. Snap peas, around for just twenty years or so, also have peas inside a green pod. The difference is that the pods are very edible as are the peas. Snap peas are usually eaten before the peas fully mature. Many gardeners now plant just snap peas because they produce more food and offer more variety in preparation for a meal.
Height - Garden peas will grow from 2 to 4 feet tall. Snap peas are taller growing from 4 to 6 feet. In both cases, some kind of trellis support is desirable, but for snap peas it is essential.
Spread Both garden and snap pea plants grow from 6 to 10 inches wide.
Expected Yields Peas planted in a single row 25 feet long will produce from 4 to 10 pounds of food. Snap peas tend to offer more food per linear foot than do the garden peas.
Peas In Containers - Peas can be grown in a container that is at least twelve inches deep. There are space-saving varieties of garden and snap peas on the market. Laxton’s Progress, Little Marvel, SugarBon snaps, SugarMel snaps, and SugarRae snaps grow well in containers. These dwarf peas still require a low trellis or some other means of support to keep air circulating through the vines. Keep soil moist once flowers appear, and keepplants picked to encourage production.
Good Source of Info On Pea Varieties
For excellent info on the best Pea varieties by state go to the vegetable variety data collection project at Cornell University - www.vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu. We urge you to join this valuable site and contribute your own ratings of varieties.
