Last year was our first year planting a garden and we had peas. There is nothing more delicious than snap peas straight off the vine, wiped on your shirt and munched while you are our in the yard. These bits of natures candy are so delicious that while we were out with all our kids the then 3 and 2 year old would pick them straight off te vine and eat them like crazy boys, my 3(now 4) year old would actually help us pick them and bring them in to wash, the 2 year old just ate them lol. Our 3rd son was only 6ish months so he couldn't eat them, but I was pregnant with our 4th so he got to enjoy them through me lol. Growing your own garden with children's help is the best way to talk them into eating new veggies . Sorry I went off on a tangent there, but basically what I meant is I agree peas are golden!njhilbilli said:Hope y'all tarheels are planting "snap" peas! Like why throw away all those pods? Zone 7b, huh. Lucky.
Up here, north of the Potomac, we have to wait 'til mid-March. Pea stands for snap pea, initials "SP" like Saint Patrick, meaning the 17th, to be exact. With me?
I love Sugar Snaps! It's obsessive! The texture and sweetness are best when each individual pea is picked as close as possible to its "optimum" time = when the peas have swelled within, just before the juicy pod begins to mottle, or lose some of that juiciness! Sweet as honey. If you think "watching" the peas ripen is over the top, just wait, it gets worse.
The vines will grow to 7 or 8 ft, even 9 is attainable. The trellis needs support from above, as the weight, when they fruit, is substantial. Learned the hard way, so I had to build 9 ft frames - three of 'em - thirty feet long...
So be cautious when you begin a relationship with this most "insidious" vegetable !!
Bill