Growing Garden Peas
By: Bruce Sukut
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Growing Garden Peas By: Bruce Sukut |
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Getting Started: Growing peas is relatively easy and enjoyable whether you are a novice or expert gardener. There are many different varieties of peas for you to chose from that give a wide range of flavors, and some even have edible pods. The first step you will want to take is to choose what type of garden pea you will want to grow. For help on this you can check out seed catalogs such as Burpees, Gurneys, or Harris which sell a wide variety of garden seeds and include information about growing them that will help you find a variety that will thrive in your region.
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Planting: Once you have picked a variety that is suitable for your climate, its time to start preparing the soil for planting. It is best to have your soil well tilled the previous fall, but it isn't necessary. Peas grow best in cooler temperatures so getting them in as early as possible in the spring can make a huge difference. You'll want to be ready to plant once the soil temperature nears 45 degrees and is dry enough to work. They should be planted about 1� to 1.5� deep and 1� apart with a row spacing of 18� to 24� depending on what variety you have chosen.
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Caring: Once the seeds are planted it becomes time to start caring for your peas. Weeding and hoeing early on will help to control the weeds that could pop up and suck water and nutrients away from your pea plants. Installing a trellis system will help your peas to grow to their maximum potential and will also aid in the harvesting process later on. There are, however, many varieties available now that are self supporting and don't require trellis'.
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Harvesting: As the growing season passes by you will begin to notice your peas starting to bloom and shortly thereafter form pods. After a week or two the pods begin to fill up and start to swell. A common practice is to squeeze the pods to determine whether the peas are big enough. Letting the peas get to big causes them to become hard and bitter tasting which most people find to be very undesirable. Because of this you should pick your peas at least every other day, if not daily, to ensure that you get a nice, flavorful pea. |
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Post Harvest: This is the best time to start preparing your garden for next years peas. If there is still time you can even chose to plant a more heat tolerant variety of peas for a second crop of the season. These second plantings often yield much less then early plantings but will still produce great tasting peas. |
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Common Varieties: Some of the most common varieties of garden peas include Green Arrow, Maestro, Dual, Wando, Little Marvel, Dakota and Sugar Snap. Their growing season ranges from 50-75 days so they are compatible to almost any region of the country. |
