Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Snow peas are expensive to buy, but they're so easy to grow. And even a small patch
can feed a family of four. They're a worthwhile addition to your vegetable garden in
every way, good eating and also beautiful, actually showy, when in flower.
People unfamiliar with snow peas sometimes think I'm growing sweet peas and stop
to ask me how I do it in this area. (Sweet peas don't do well in my part of Connecticut.)
The flowers don't come in all the colors of sweet peas and don't grow in the same pro-
fusion, but they have the lovely, pastel violet lavender and the same general appearance
of a true sweet pea. They're attractive enough to grow — as I do — in the front of the
house and pretty enough to use as a cut flower.
Appearance
Snow peas look like garden peas except for the color and size of the flowers; the shape
of the leaves and flowers is much the same. Not all snow pea flowers are lavender; some
varieties are snow white. Some catalogs describe my violet-lavender flowers as “red”
or “reddish,” which hardly does them justice. If you have a choice, pick a lavender-
flowered variety for a feast for the eyes as well as the palate. Most varieties are de-
scribed as growing about 2½ to 3 feet tall, but in practice many will grow taller.
How to Grow
Getting started. Sow snow peas where they are to grow as early in the spring as the
ground can be worked. They don't mind cold, wet ground and can be seeded as much
as six weeks before the date of your last killing frost.
They grow poorly in the heat of midsummer but can be planted again for a fall crop.
For the fall crop, sow from August to mid-September in cooler climates (check the days
to maturity and count backward from the date of your first killing frost). In mild cli-
mates, they can be sown in October or even later and grown throughout the winter for
a spring harvest. The first light frosts won't bother them a bit. If you have a warm spot
(like the side of my garage) and some luck, you can get a crop surprisingly late in the
fall.
Planting. The best way to plant snow peas (or any peas, for that matter) is in a 6-inch-
deep trench. The plants grow better if earth is pushed up to cover the first few inches
of stems as the plants grow taller. This is much easier to achieve by filling in a trench
than by hilling up from the surface of the soil. Sowing in a trench makes watering more
efficient and keeps the roots in the cooler, moist soil below the surface.
Dig your trench 8 to 10 inches deep and incorporate a balanced fertilizer into the
soil. Also check the soil pH, which should range between 6.0 and 7.0. If yours is more
acidic, incorporate limestone at least two weeks before sowing. If you've never grown
peas or beans before, treating seeds or soil with an inoculant improves yields by supply-
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