A Guide to Growing Sugar Snap Peas
Growing sugar snap peas yourself is a fantastic way to get great tasting snap peas that are much healthier than the frozen store-bought variety. If you’ve never had sugar snap peas before, you are truly missing out! This species of pea is extremely tasty—imagine sweet and crisp peas that are housed in a crunchy exterior. Aside from the taste, the best part about this pea is that preparation is minimal. These peas can be eaten pod and all and don’t even have to be cooked, although they are great either way. Even if you don’t consider yourself to be much of a vegetable gardener, you could probably handle growing sugar snap peas as long as you know the proper conditions to provide this plant.
Let’s start by learning a little about the sugar snap pea plant. This plant loves cool, moist environments which is why they are best planted in the spring and autumn seasons. There are two types of sugar snap pea plants that you can choose from: vine or bush. The original variety of sugar snaps come in the form of a vine and can grow up to six feet tall—which means that you will have to provide some form of support for the vine. A nice thing about the vine variety is that as long as the plant itself is healthy and the weather remains cool and moist, it will keep producing peas. This is probably the best choice if you live in a cooler climate and eat a lot of peas! The bush varieties of sugar snap are just as tasty as the vine variety; however the bushes do not require additional support to remain erect. The bush variety does have a shorter harvest time and tends to produce fewer peas, but it is still a great option to consider—especially for those of us with less garden space.
Either variety of sugar snap will yield sweet and crispy peas, providing you know how to meet the needs of the plant. For most areas, the best time to plant the sugar snap seeds is between March and May. If you want a second harvest, you can sow more seeds between September and November. Temperatures between 45 and 75 degrees F are the best for sugar snaps. The planting area should be in a sunny location, as peas like to get a great deal of sun throughout the day.
The pH range for the planting soil should ideally be between 5.7 and 6.7, but don’t worry if your soil varies from this. When you are ready to plant your seeds, go ahead and mix a bit of compost into the soil where you will be planting your peas. Peas grow best when planted in raised plots, so we will describe the process as if that is how you are planting them. Shovel the ground into “trenches”. Each trench should measure about two inches deep and two and a half feet apart. Place each seed in the trench about two inches apart from one another. Once all of the seeds have been placed into the trench, go ahead and backfill the soil/compost mixture on top of them. Be careful when doing this so that you don’t move the seeds closer together.
Now, you should give the soil a good watering, but don’t overwater it as the water could pool around the seeds causing them to rot. Over the next ten days, the seeds will be in the germination process. The ideal temperature during this time is around 70 degrees F, so try to plant according to your areas average temperature during the time you will plant the seeds. Once the seedlings have sprouted and reached about two inches in height, you will need to “thin” them out so that there is a space of about two inches between each sprout. If you have chosen the vine variety of sugar snaps, you should begin preparing your support cage, trellis, or support stakes around this time.
General maintenance from here on out is simply a matter of ensuring that your peas are watered regularly, but take care not to overwater them. When the pods of the sugar snap peas have become rounded but just start to flatten out and the seeds are still of a smaller size, then it’s time to harvest. If you allow the seeds to become too large, then they will lose their sweetness and the pods will become tough and stringy. Unless you intend to blanch and freeze your peas, the best method is to simply pick them as you need them, which means cooking them straight away. This will ensure that both the peas and the pod are sweet, juicy, and crunchy!
Growing sugar snap peas is one of the easiest garden vegetables to grow once you get it started! Just remember that a sunny spot, good soil, and regular watering are the keys to producing good sugar snaps! Best of luck with your garden!