Peas, please! The sweet taste of glorious garden-grown peas is nothing like what you find in grocery stores. These green beauties are nature’s candy fresh off the vine! Peas are one of the season’s first crops, planted as soon as the ground can be worked, even if snow falls afterward. See our tips on growing peas, from sowing and growing to harvest and storage!
About Peas
Peas are easy to grow, but their growing period is limited. It’s essential to plant them early enough in spring so they mature while the weather is still cool! (This means planting in most parts of the United States and Canada in February, March, or April.) However, they can also be grown as a fall or winter crop in warmer regions.
Peas do not stay fresh long after harvest, so enjoy their taste as soon as possible! Those peas in grocery stores are often starchy in taste, which you’ll find has no comparison to garden-fresh peas.
Three varieties of peas suit most garden and culinary needs:
- Sweet peas, aka garden peas or English peas (Pisum sativum ssp. sativum), have inedible pods from which the seeds (peas) are taken.
- Snow peas (P. sativum var. macrocarpon) produce edible, flat, stringless pods containing small peas.
- Snap peas (P. sativum var. macrocarpon ser. cv.) produce thick, edible pods containing large/full-size peas.
Great planting companions for peas include: Chives, Mint, Alyssum, Carrot, Corn, Cucumber, Radish, Turnip, and Beans. Learn more about Companion Planting.
Video Demo: Growing Peas from Sowing to Harvest
Learn all about growing peas in our video demonstration, and then see the instructions in the guide below.
