Edible Pod Peas

[chrysanthemum]

I love peas of all sorts: English peas, snow peas, and sugar snap peas.  My kids aren’t such fans of English peas, though, and prefer sugar snap peas over snow peas, though they like both.  I’ve tried several times to grow sugar snap peas down here in Texas, and I can get off to a good start, but then either untimely heat or untimely cold (like the February 2021 freeze) does them in.  I thought I’d try one more time this fall.

I ordered some seeds this summer from Sand Hill Preservation and in looking over their many varieties, I didn’t research each plant I chose as thoroughly as I should have.  I ordered “Oregon Sugar Pod Peas” because it was said to handle heat better than some others, and I think the term “sugar” in the name made my mind assume that it was a sugar snap pea.  It’s not; it’s a snow pea.  I figured it out pretty quickly once it started setting a few pods for me, and I did some more specific reading on it.  It was completely my fault for making an assumption and not researching enough.  It’s still a good pea, though, and kids have enjoyed snacking on the pods right in the garden.


Here’s a picture of the peas growing on the trellis behind my Woods Mountain Crazy Beans.  This was taken a few weeks ago, and the peas are growing taller, but they’re not tall plants.  They won’t need the whole height of the trellis, but that’s just what I have installed in the location that was available when I wanted to plant.


The other night my husband wanted to make a fried rice dish for dinner, and as we were talking about what vegetable to put in it, I recalled that not only are pea pods edible on snow peas but that side shoots are edible as well.  My kids and I had just eaten most of the pods that were of any size, so I went out and cut off a bunch of side shoots and my husband added them to the fried rice.  They were tasty, but I didn’t warn him in advance that they should only be cooked very lightly, and he had already cooked them down pretty significantly by the time I mentioned it.  We’re going to want to give them a try again with just a very short sautéing time.  Hopefully we’ll also get some good pods for eating in the coming weeks as well.  There are lots of flowers out there.

[woodeye]

chrysanthemum, the bowl of snow peas & side shoots is gorgeous!

[chrysanthemum]

Thanks, woodeye. It’s funny, now when I check on the garden, I look at the Austrian Winter Peas that I’m growing for a cover crop and think, “I could snip those shoots and eat them, too.” I’m going to try to restrain myself, though, and just let them do their thing.

[chrysanthemum]

Hmm. I haven’t updated in a while.

The pre-Christmas freezes froze all my snow peas. The Austrian winter peas sustained some damage but largely survived.

This past Saturday I started some actual sugar snap peas. I took advantage of a post-Thanksgiving free shipping offer and got a pack of Sugar Sprint Peas. They’re supposed to have slightly shorter days to maturity, and I figure that we need that down here to beat the heat. I used little grow sponges tucked in a heavy plastic container from the fish counter at the grocery store. I have a matching translucent top that I use as a humidity dome. I had a pleasant surprise this morning that the peas were already starting to sprout.

[woodeye]

And you have...Action! Good going, chrysanthemum, looks great...

[chrysanthemum]

My seedlings spent a couple hours outside yesterday in dappled shade and a couple more this afternoon under partial sunshine. They’re still pretty small but have nice green stalks with leaves waiting to unfurl.

[FrostyTurnip]

Yeah, buddy.  Seeding out peas tomorruh.  High on Monday is 67 with a good chance of rain to follow.  Perfecto! 

[chrysanthemum]

I moved my Sugar Snap Pea seedlings to the garden today, not for transplanting, but just a relocation in their tray.  They’ve been on my back deck, but it gets more shade than the garden, especially at this time of year, so this is the next step in their hardening off.  I may put them in the ground on Saturday depending on the weather. We’re forecast for a freeze Friday night.

[chrysanthemum]

I moved the peas into the garage for the night. It might freeze, and since they’re in damp little sponges in a shallow tray, I decided not to risk it. I hope to put the peas in the ground (or the raised bed soil) tomorrow.

[chrysanthemum]

I guess I forgot to update this thread after I actually did transplant the peas.  I think it was on February 11th, though I don’t have it in my garden notebook either.  A few of them have shriveled up, but mostly they seem to be growing, albeit slowly.  They do make for a cheerful little row of greenery out in the garden, though.  I do hope they’ll be able to produce a crop for me.

[galina]

Love peas too. They can take a bit of frost as little plants, but when they are bigger and flowering and producing not so much. We had our last handful of snaps a week ago from a July sowing. They survived -3C frosty nights with warmer days, but the pods were getting a little distorted in the end. I find yellow snaps and snows (which we call mangetout peas), good in hot weather. Opal Creek lasts well into summer. This summer we also had excellent yields of Magnolia Blossom snap peas going well into July and even August, with a smaller late harvest from the second sowing in July.

Second sowing for peas is new to me, never worked well in England, but is easy here, without mildew killing the plants. It found out from accidentally dropped seed and now I do it deliberately for a crop before winter.