Sugar Snap Peas
If you enjoy eating fresh peas but aren’t crazy about the idea of picking and shelling bushels of pea pods, then sugar snap peas may be the perfect vegetable to plant in your home garden.
Sugar Snap Peas are delicious and just as easy to grow but eliminate the effort required to shell and prepare the peas for cooking.
With Sugar Snap Peas you get to eat the entire pod with the peas nestled inside. The pods are juicy, crisp, sweet, and crunchy, and in my opinion are best when enjoyed fresh and uncooked right from the garden.
Planting Sugar Snap Peas in the Garden
Edible Podded Peas enjoy cool weather growing conditions and can be planted during early spring, with a second crop planted during late summer for a fall harvest.
Sow Sugar Snap Peas about an inch deep after treating the seed with a nitrogen fixing inoculent designed for peas. The inoculent isn’t required but will help improve growth, result in higher yields, and increase the nitrogen levels “fixed” in your garden’s soil. The inoculant contains a natural bacteria and can be purchased at garden centers or organic gardening suppliers and seed companies on the Internet.
Sugar Snap Peas will grow well in raised beds, the biggest challenge is to space them out evenly. One planting technique is to lay all the seeds out on top of the prepared bed using the desired spacing pattern and the go back and use a finger to press the seeds to the proper depth. You can also make rows along the length of the raised bed, plant the seeds two inches apart and cover.
Care and Maintenance Tips
The peas will quickly germinate and begin growing so you should be prepared to provide some type of pea support to hold the plants upright as they grow taller. The dwarf varieties that only grow a foot or two in height will do fine without additional support from fencing, stakes, or trellis material.
Aside from weeding and watering when needed, there’s not much routine maintenance required to raise your crop of Sugar Snap Peas. The pea vines grow very fast and within a few weeks of planting you will notice blossoms that will quickly be followed by the developing pods.
Harvesting and Using Sugar Snap Peas
Harvest the Sugar Snap Peas when the pods are plump and have reached full size but to enjoy the best flavor don’t allow them to over mature or start to shrivel and dry out on the vines.
Sugar Snap Peas are often cooked by steaming or sauteing, but I think that they are at their best when simply harvested and enjoyed raw with absolutely no cooking. In fact the fresh pods are so delicious that you’ll be tempted to eat half of the harvest right there in the garden.
In addition to the pea pods you can also harvest and enjoy eating the flower blossoms and leafy plant tips or pea shoots. Just be sure that you don’t attempt to eat any portion of the varieties of ”sweet peas” that are grown as ornamental flowers and are not edible.
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April 8th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
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June 26th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I just ate my first home grown sugar snap peas right off the vine! They were so delicious, i think I ate 10 of them without stopping. Should I pick them when they are skinny or plump? I think I’ve seen both recommendations, and now I’m confused.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
Hi Carolyn, sugar snap peas are sweet and delicious and often don’t make it out of the garden. Sugar snaps are best harvested when they are plump, after the seeds have filled out within the pods. Edible podded snow peas on the other hand are harvested when the pods are still flat and skinny.
June 29th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Is there a particular procedure for perserving all the EXTRA Sugar Snap Peas from a wonderful crop so I can enjoy them well into the Autumn?
(Please respond as soon as possible)
Thsnks
June 29th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Hi Steven, I’m not the best person to ask about preserving veggies from the garden but I’m guessing that freezing may be the best way to preserve your extra sugar snap peas. Canning may be another option but I’m no authority on that either.
July 13th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Hi just picked my sugar snap peas, ate half of them. I was wandering do I pull the plants out of the garden after I harvest the peas or do they come back again?? My first time planing these.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Sugar Snap Peas don’t produce much in the way of a second crop, so you’re better off pulling the vines after the plants mature and put the garden space to use growing other crops. But rather than pull the vines out it’s probably best to cut the pea vines off at soil level, or if you are not going to replant the area turn the plants under to help build soil fertility and take advantage of the nitrogen-fixing ability of pea plants.
July 24th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Thanks for the info. I was confused between sugar snap and snow peas. I’ll leave mine on the vine to fatten up.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
I just pick a bunch of sugar snap peas for the first time. This is the first year that I have grown them in my garden. I cant figure out why they taste so bitter though?
March 29th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I’m relieved by your information. I’m growing them for the first time and in an apartment. Fortunately, I have a yard and large pots with support that I’ll be transplanting them in. Although I’ve planted way too much, I’m looking forward to enjoying the aspect of fresh veggies that I’ve grown myself. My husband is chomping at the bit. Sugar snap peas are his favorite. I suspect I won’t be harvesting much because he’ll get to them first. Any suggestions on transplanting? I’m using mircle growing planting soil at the point of transplanting. I’m just not there yet.
March 29th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Hi Janet, just be careful to disturb the root system as little as possible. Transplant on a cloudy or cool day, and water the seedlings well until they are established.
April 4th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Thanks for the info on sugar snap peas. How much support do they need…a this stake for each plant. Any suggestions will help.
April 5th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Gretchen, it depends of the variety of sugar snap peas that you are growing, the taller varieties can grow over six feet high and will need a trellis or tall structure to support them. The smaller growing varieties may be staked or allowed to climb up pieces of brush, cages, fencing, etc.
April 7th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I am growing my first sugar snap peas this year. They are wonderful! Unfortunately, only two of the baby plants I started with survived, and thus far, only one has produced any pods. I only get a few peas ripe enough to pick at a time, so they have never made it into my kitchen. my daughter, especially, has a hard time waiting for them to mature and plucks and eats them right off the vine!
This is the first year that I have decided to save seeds from my garden to plant next year. I read that you wait till the pea is very plump and begins to dry out before plucking it for use as seeds. But what I need to know, is do I wait for the last pods of the season, or can I leave a couple plump pods on the vine to start to dry, and continue harvesting others as they grow? Also, once I have picked some for seed, do I shuck them immediately, or allow the pods to dry out more first? After that, I assume, I let the peas dry out thoroughly and then store them in a dark, dry place till next year. Correct?
Any advice would be much appreciated, as I have a couple pods currently about to bust at the seams on the vine! It has been hard work keeping my daughter and husband away from them so I can save the seeds!
April 10th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Sarah, there’s a site called Seed Savers that explains how to save sugar snap – and many other – seeds. I did a search for “how to save seeds” for some other seeds I have and found that site.
April 10th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Hi Sarah, you can allow the peas to dry pretty well right on the vines, just watch that they don’t shatter or split and disperse the seeds before you have a chance to collect them.
The problem with using the first fruits for seed is that they aren’t always the best and allowing a plant to mature seed early in the season can reduce the overall production since the plant may assume that it has fulfilled its mission to reproduce and begin to relax and bear fewer fruits than it ordinarily would. You also don’t want to use the last fruits because they can be of poorer quality and you run the risk of them not fully maturing and ripening before the season ends. So the ideal is somewhere in between and you always look for the best fruits/seeds from the best plants that you have.
Yes, let the seeds dry out thoroughly and store them in a cool, dry, and dark place until you are ready to plant them out.
April 12th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Please help!! We are a young couple starting our first garden. We planted our peas just as directed and all the suddden I have what I am sure ared little sugar snap sprouts coming up all over the garden. How did they get everywhere, rain, birds, rodents? And should I re-till those rows, and start over now??
April 13th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
That’s really strange Holly but I don’t think that there is any way the elements or the critters could have scattered your pea seeds like that. Maybe they’re just unrelated weeds sprouting, and your peas haven’t germinated yet. Try digging one of the shoots you spotted up and see if there any remains of a pea seed attached to the roots.
April 18th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I planted several snap peas in my garden a little more than a month ago. The vines are growing beautifully but I have yet to see any blossoms. How long do the blossoms normally take to appear?
May 2nd, 2009 at 12:22 pm
Yes, Jennifer, me to. Not a single blossom anywhere and mine have been in the ground for way over a month. Very healthy plants at around 4 ft. I do see the birds eating the top shoots and leaves but no sign of a flower, pod or any thought of future goodies. Plants were purchased at nursery store. I may pull them and put in a lemon cucumber.
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:40 pm
All the above is important and interesting. But – hasn’t anyone experienced wild animals eating the peas early. I’ve put a low fence (20″) high aroung the garden to stop the rabbits, but to no avail. My dog chased away a ground hog yesterday. I think it’s the culprit. What is the solution? A higher fence, an electric fence, a trap (what do you use for bait?). I understand they will burrow under anything. Right now I think they just climb over the plastic fence I’ve used, or lift it and crawl under.
PS In northeast Ohio, I planted them in late March and they are doing wonderful. (Could have planted them earlier, I do believe.)
June 15th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
The stems are very delicate and break easily. I planted several plantings and only a few came up. I then replanted and again only a few came up. What is up?
June 16th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Peas can be a bit fussy when starting the seeds if conditions aren’t just right. Some gardeners will soak the seed overnight in water, pre-sprout them between moist paper towels, and then transplant the seedlings out into the garden.
July 10th, 2009 at 9:23 am
Ok, my plants are already having trouble. The lower leaves are turning yellow and are dying off. The upper leaves have been eaten by something, they are all lacey looking.
They were grown from seeds bought this year, so not old seed stock.
There are now some flower at the tops of the vines, but not many. One flower has a pea on it, and that is about it.
What’s gone wrong??
August 8th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Hi,
A question for Kenny and a response for Steven re. preserving:
I have already harvested all the snap peas from my raised beds, and yesterday as I started to rip down the dying stalks, I noticed that several peas from that crop had sowed themselves in the ground. They haven’t germinated yet, and I read that it’s early enough in our season here (NW Wash.) that I may be able to grow a second harvest before winter. My question: can I use those peas from this most recent harvest to grow a fall crop? It looks per other posts that I need to dry them out and use them next winter instead, but I thought I’d check. Any advice would be appreciated!
Steven, as far as preserving snap peas, I haven’t used this technique yet since we eat them all fresh in the garden, but my mother in law swears by it. Steam the pods for less than 3 minutes, don’t let them turn soft, and THEN freeze them. She says they taste almost as good as fresh and that this has been the best technique over the years. Good luck!
August 9th, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Hi Katy, you can use your own seeds to plant your next crop of peas. if you planted more than one variety and did not isolate them there is a chance that your seeds could have been cross pollinated so that is something to keep in mind. Also some vegetable seeds won’t germinate until a set period of time has passed after they mature. The pea seeds should be thoroughly dried out but other than that I think that you would be okay planting your pea seeds now to squeeze in a fall harvest.
August 25th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I planted sugar peas and snow peas the same day (13 days ago). 5 snow peas germinated after about 7 days, and no more after that. None of the sugar peas have germinated. Fresh seeds for 2009/2010 season. Planted 1 inch deep without soaking. Any ideas?
August 25th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Hi Paige, peas can be rather finicky germinators and the seed will sometimes rot in the ground during rainy weather conditions. You could try pre-sprouting the seeds. Soak them in a jar of water overnight, pour the water off in the morning and then rinse them with fresh water five or six times each day until they sprout. As soon as the germinate and begin to show a bit of root growth they can be gently planted in the garden. Good luck.
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:22 am
Hello, I did a fall planting in Denver, CO. What is the lowest temperature that peas can survive? I understand they can take a light frost. Thank you.