Peas Please!

By Melanie Mathieson
Gardening Guru

Who doesn’t love to pick green peas right off the vine and pop them right into their mouths. Nothing matches that fresh sweet taste. Green peas sweet and delicious, boast more protein than most vegetables and have many varieties available including those with edible pods.
Peas are hardy, weak-stemmed climbing HYPERLINK “http://home.howstuffworks.com/vining-annuals.htm” annual vines. They have leaf-like stipules, leaves with one to three pairs of leaflets, and tendrils for climbing. The flowers are white, streaked, or colored. The fruit is a pod containing 4 to 10 seeds, either smooth or wrinkled depending on the variety. There are three main types of peas that are typically grown by gardeners.
English Garden Peas: have a tough inedible pod that protects the sweet, tender green peas inside. Most commonly grown in our area.
Edible-pod Peas: include both snow peas and snap peas. Snow peas have flat, tender pods with small, undeveloped peas inside and Snap peas have crunchy, delicious plump pods with sweet full-sized peas inside. Most often eaten raw or in stir-fry dishes.
Southern Peas: includes black-eyed peas, crowders and creams, grown in the southern United States.
Green peas are a cool-season crop that must mature before the weather gets hot. The ideal growing conditions are temperatures between 60 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit and ample spring rains to keep the soil moist. You should plant peas as soon as the soil can be worked in spring, approximately four weeks before the average date of last frost in our area. Peas need soil that has good drainage but is high in organic material. They produce earlier in sandy soil, but yield a heavier, later crop if grown in clayey soil. Peas like to be planted in a location with full sun.
Plant peas directly in the garden 2 inches deep and 1 to 2 inches apart. Don’t let the soil dry out; peas need ample moisture. I always soaked my pea seeds overnight in warm water before planting. This rehydrates the seed allowing a quicker germination rate. I also inoculate my seeds with nitrogen fixing bacteria before I plant them. Inoculant is sold as a wettable powder in most nursery supply stores and is easy to use. Add a little bit of inoculant to moist seed and mix until the seeds are coated with powder, then plant them right away. You should be sure to inoculate your seeds if you are planting in an area previously uncultivated.
Many gardeners set up a support system for the vines. Plastic or nylon netting, wire fencing or single wires can be used for supports. If using a support system, single rows should be planted 2-3 feet apart. To save on space you can plant a row on either side of the support. If you make raised beds (wide rows) about 12 – 18 inches wide and sow seeds randomly across the bed they peas will rely on each other for support. This works with both full size and dwarf varieties. I always used this method in my garden so I didn’t have to bother with installing a support system.
Avoid hoeing deeply around peas because the roots are delicate and damage easily. Most varieties should be ready to harvest in 55-80 days. Peas should be harvested to encourage production. It is best to pick them in the morning after the dew has evaporated when the area pods are crispest. It is best to stay out of the garden when it’s wet in morning dew or recently rained because that’s when water-born disease bacteria are easily spread. When harvesting, use two hands or pinch off pods with fingernail or use scissors. Be careful not to break the brittle pea vines. Pick garden peas when pods are round and full. Color will fade and pods will harden when overripe. Snow peas should be harvested when peas are undeveloped and pods are young, bright green and flat. Harvest snap peas when the pods are plump and crisp.
If you practice good gardening hygiene, you shouldn’t have many problems growing peas but there are still some common pests and diseases of peas that you should be aware of. Good growing conditions and annual rotation of your crop also help to keep pests and diseases at bay.
Pea Aphids - attack young plants and can be controlled by washing the plants with a weak solution of soapy water.
Slugs - enjoy feasting on the tender pea vines. Use slug bait, beer traps, or hand pick to control.
Mosaic - is a disease spread by aphids. The plant will look stunted and the leaves will be mottled and faded. Control the aphids to prevent mosaic.
Fusarium Wilt - is caused by a fungus that lives in the soil and enters the plant through its roots. The leaves will turn yellow and the plant’s growth will be stunted. Remove infected plants from the garden and burn them. Be sure to rotate your pea crop the following season. Look for varieties that state they are resistant to fusarium wilt when selecting seeds.
Bacterial Blight - is a disease carried on infected seeds. Leaves will have dark spots and pea pods will have yellow to brown water-soaked spots. Stems will have purple to black spots near the soil line. This disease cannot be cured. Destroy infected and surrounding plants. To prevent bacterial blight, be sure to use certified seeds and do not work around plants when wet.
There are many different varieties of peas available. Listed below are a few of the top sellers that are often found locally where seed are sold or through mail order. Try a few varieties to decide which ones you like the best.
EARLY (55 to 64 days to harvest)
Garden Pea - Alaska, Early Frosty, Maestro, Little Marvel, Thomas Laxton
Snow Pea - Snowbird, Norli
Snap Pea - Sugar Ann, Sweet Snap, Sugar Bon
MIDSEASON (65 to 70 days to harvest)
Garden Pea - Green Arrow, Lincoln, Novella, Wando
Snow Pea - Mammoth Melting Sugar, Oregon Sugar Pod II, Blizzard
Snap Pea - Sugar Snap, Sugar Rae
LATE (70 to 80 days to harvest)
Garden Pea - Rondo, Morse’s No. 60, Giant Stride
Snap Pea - Sugar Daddy
Gardening Guru Tip: I would always plant at least one of each of the early and mid-season varieties so that I had a succession of peas ready to harvest throughout the month of August. Little Marvel and Lincoln were my favourite varieties.