One of our next major harvests for preservation purposes looks like it’s going to be our snow peas! They are coming in strong and starting to plump up, which means we need to harvest them imminently!
For the uninitiated, peas have a ridiculous number of names that basically describe very similar and sometimes identical types of peas. That said, there are really only two major classes of peas out there. Snow and snap peas have edible pods whereas shelling peas (sometimes called garden peas) are best shelled and you typically harvest the individual peas themselves. Snow and snap peas are very similar, but the snap pea is basically a snow pea that was crossed with a shelling pea, thus giving it a thicker shell and often a more “plump” appearance.
We generally observe our snow pea varieties are ready for harvest around mid-summer, whereas our shelling peas go pretty much all the way to first frost. We do snack on our snow peas significantly as they mature, but the bulk of our harvest is aimed for blanch and freeze.
Some people prefer to succession plant their snow (or snap) peas to spread out that harvest. That’s certainly viable and you can easily get a month of harvest in subarctic climates this way. Our general goal is one large harvest and subsequent preservation, so we don’t do any succession planting with our snow peas. We will often leave a few less mature peas on our plants just so there’s a little bit left to harvest once we perform this major harvest and preservation.
We have played around with a lot of varieties of peas over the years. But, we keep coming back to the variety called Oregon Sugar Pod II. It’s a very consistent and heavy producer, featuring a lightly sweet and very mild taste. We like it as it usually gets to a height of about three feet and just stops growing. We’ve also rarely been all that impressed on the flavor side when we experiment with other varieties, so these days we just stick to the one type. I’m sure there’s plenty of great tasting and prolific varieties out there. But, sometimes we learn to just stick with what works for us!
We grow a 10 foot row of snow peas each season. They can be planted very, very densely and will still produce admirably. We often use one inch spacing, ensuring a very dense wall of snow peas, typically growing them up a trellis in our raised beds. This method has worked quite well for us and while we could probably deal with more plants, we’ve found this a good balance.
Our snow peas are definitely a favorite in stir fry and other Asian inspired dishes. They also go great on salads or even just a simple side dish. Best of all, they are a fantastic garden snack and we can rarely walk by our snow peas without grabbing a handful to snack on while we’re in the garden!
But, since this is one of the final days where we can show you our snow peas, we figured we should talk about them! If you’ve got a favorite snow (or snap) pea variety, we’d love to hear about it!
