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Peas...Sweet Addition to Your Garden

By Jos Van Hage

Now that is March it seems that spring is just around the corner. Many gardeners have been busy planning their gardens and deciding what to plant. If you are planning a vegetable garden make sure that you plan on planting at least one row of peas. The sweetness of fresh peas fresh from the garden is sweeter than eating peas any other way. This is because once the peas have been picked the sugar content of the peas begins to turn to starch so when peas are processed either frozen or canned they can never be as sweet as when they were first picked.

Peas are a cold weather crop meaning that they prefer and grow best in cooler temperatures. Plant them in spring as soon as the soil can be worked early to mid-May. The plant is not bothered by frost however the blossoms cannot have frost, but by the time the plant produces flowers the threat of frost should have passed. Peas are a legume and add nutrients to the soil so you want to rotate your crop annually. Before sowing the seed coat them with ‘Inoculant’ which is a black powder that contains natural bacteria which helps the pea plants extract nitrogen from the soil which in turn increases the harvest. Any leftover inoculant can be added to the garden soil as it is only good for one season. To help the inoculant adhere to the peas I dampen the peas and place them in a small dish which contains the inoculant. Do not soak peas overnight in water before planting them. Soaking the peas has no benefits and can actually harm the seed as it may rot in the soil after it has been planted. Plant seeds in a single row at a depth of 2 cm and plant seeds thickly as this provides shade for the root. Space rows as to the instructions on the package as different varieties have different growing habits. It is important that the soil remain moist and at a cooler temperature of 10-15 Celsius until the seed germinates (7-10 days) as this helps in the germination. To enjoy peas throughout the summer plant several varieties at the same time with differing maturity times instead of just one variety.

Tall growing varieties such as ‘Laxton Progress’, ‘Lincoln Homesteader’, ‘Tall Telephone’, and ‘Sugar Snap Pole’, should be staked as the vines are brittle and will break if handled which causes them to stop growing, leaving the peas on the vine to toughen and loose flavor. If you do not want to stake peas then grow short bush varieties such as the dwarf types. Peas are rarely bothered by many pests or disease, however they can get powdery mildew which starts off as white and becomes gray then black. Remove and destroy any severely diseased plants preventing the disease from spreading and disinfect any stakes or poles that have come in contact with the fungus. Another problem is root rot and wilt which occurs after seeds have germinated. The roots and plant growth do not develop causing the plant to wilt and die prematurely. To control this problem plant only treated seed and do not plant peas in the same location for a few years. When working in the garden around peas be careful that you do not cultivate the soil too close to the plants roots as the roots are tender and can be easily damaged

There are many different varieties of peas which are divided into three groups. The shelling types which have the tough outer pod which is opened and thrown out to reveal the edible peas inside. Then are two types of edible podded peas. The Snow Peas have flat crisp pods that re picked while the peas inside are small and undeveloped. These are the type used in stir-fry dishes. The other edible pod type is ‘Sugar Snap’ which is a mix of the traditional shelled peas and the Snow Peas. It was introduced in 1979 and can be used either way. It has fat pods that can be eaten at any stage of growth and when the peas are fully developed they are shelled and eaten. The sugar snap has become a favorite in our garden as the peas are very sweet!

-Jos. 

Jos Van Hage owns and operates three Art Knapp's Garden Centres in the Prince George area
-Highway 16 West
-Highway 97 North
-Highway 97 South at the Old Cariboo Highway





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