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Oh My Darling Little Sweet Pea

Green Garden Peas

By Farmer Terri Carter

September 4, 2014

Ever wonder about those little green peas that you see in the store. What are they called?  Are they sweet peas, English Peas, snow peas or sugar snap peas.  So many peas and which one is which? Are the all the same or what?  Let me shed some light on the peas.  The outer green shell is call the pod and what is inside the pod is the pea or seed that we eat or plant.  There are 3 basic kinds of little green peas.

The English or sweet pea as we know it is what most of us in the States grew up on. It's the first pea most of us would eat and like especially with some fresh mashed potatoes.  We usually got them in a can and some brands were better than other brands depending on what you could afford at that time.  I tended to like the one in the silver can.  The English or sweet pea is the only one of the 3 kinds of peas that you shell to eat.  This one you remove the pod and eat the plump green pea inside and dis-guard the pod.  It can go in the compost pile.  The English pea is seldom found fresh and that is because they tend to lose flavor after 3 or 4 day and thus not having the ability to stand up to long shipping from farm to store. If you want some then you should grow them yourself to get the true taste.

Snow Peas are the green flat peas that you often see in stir-fry.  It is never shelled and the pea inside is small and can be seen and felt inside. It is sweet and can be eaten raw.

Sugar Snap Peas are basically a cross between the English pea and the snow pea. It looks like the English pea but the difference is that you eat the entire pea. It tends to be sweet and crunchy.  It may have a string that you want to remove before eating or not. Both snow and sugar peas can be eaten cooked or raw and both have a little string that you can remove if you like. The English pea has the most nutrients in it but all are good for you and have a good flavor.  

For more information and pics of the 3 varieties of peas mentioned here you can check out a pretty good blog post that I found.  http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-snow-peas-sugar-snap-peas-and-english-peas-ingredient-intelligence-205118

Growing peas in your garden

People tend to be a bit confused as to when they should plant peas.  When you think peas, you think summer crop and that is the case with most of the beans and peas but not these little green gems.  They must have some cool temps to thrive.  They are not for the hot summer of The South.  Peas can be grown in the very early spring or fall.  The trick is to get them growing and make sure they live a nice cool life literally.  Most people put them out too late in the spring and they get too hot.  Then some people plant them in the summer with the tomatoes.  That is a bad idea.  Again think cool when you think of green peas.  That time when the seasons change is the time to plant them. It can be a fine line for deciding the perfect time for them.  Just remember that they will not produce and thrive in the heat.  In fact you can plant peas in the ground in the spring when the soil temp is only 45 degrees.  With that being said, I would already have my bed turned and ready to go as soon as spring hits that golden temp for them. It can be difficult to go out in the cold and prepare the spring bed so I suggest you have it ready to go in the fall and all you have to do is plant in the spring.  I even cover my bed to keep the weeds down in fall if I am not planting then and there.

If you want to learn more about peas and how to grow then then you can refer to someone that I love to refer gardeners to.  Walter Reeves is considered an expert and he has his own TV show on gardening too.  He is a Georgia gardener so his advice will be pertinent to our area. His blog will have the varieties that are best for this region. Select varieties that can tolerate some heat because you never really know what our weather will bring.   

http://www.walterreeves.com/food-gardening/pea-english-and-snap

As you start to plan your fall garden consider growing some of the green sweet pea varieties discussed here.  If you have never eaten a fresh sweet pea, you are in for a real treat.  I have eaten the sugar snap and snow peas and they are delicious from the garden. This fall, I will be planting all three.  Wonder if I will be able to tell the difference while they are growing.   If you want to start now then don’t be afraid go ahead and experiment with peas and then in the spring you will have a bit more knowledge and you can plant them again with the confidence that you know you can grow them from seeds and enjoy them.  That is what I plan to do.  I read and then I grow.  Sometimes reading is not enough and you must just go ahead and do it.  See what happens and then you have the experience for yourself and you are in turn a  better gardener for trying.  As they say, you won’t know unless you try.   Check out a great blog by my new garden mentor Amy Whitney of the UGA Cobb Extension Office.  She is a botanist and she knows gardening.  Happy Gardening Y’all.    http://atlantaveggies.blogspot.com/

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