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Peas, whether it be shelling peas, sugar snaps or snow peas are great cool weather crops. Personally, I love sugar snaps and snow peas, and because they are so expensive to buy in grocery stores, growing them myself allows me to have them more frequently.

When growing peas, consider your climate. If you live in a warm climate like I do, you'd want to plant your peas in late winter. If you live in a colder climate, you'd want to plant them as soon as you are sure the danger of frost is gone. Look at the package of seeds to see how long it will take the plants to mature. Generally they will say something like 45 - 65 days. That means that it will take roughly that amount of time for the peas to be ready to pick from the time the seeds actually sprout.

There is no need to plant peas indoors ahead of time and then transplant them into the ground. One way you can expedite sprouting is by soaking the dried peas for anywhere from one day to several days. Be sure you change the water frequently, though. Doing this will soften the peas and enable them to sprout in the ground faster.

You can find regular peas which are plants that grow on vines, so they will require some sort of support, or you can find a bush variety. The bush variety is definitely easier, particularly if you have a small space. If you are really limited on space, a window box with a trellis system will work well. There are also square tomato cages which can be hooked together. You can buy these and use them as a trellis for your peas. As long as the support you have will allow the tendrils to catch it and allow for upward growth, it should work okay. You should also plan for the added weight that the fruits will produce.

Plant peas at intervals of about 1 inch to 1 inches apart. Doing this will eliminate the need to thin out your plants. It will also reduce the amount of waste that thinned plants would cause. You should also allow for enough space between rows. You will need this space so that you can walk between the rows to harvest your crop. A foot and a half between rows is ideal. Another wise idea when planting peas - and something that will allow you to extend your harvest season is to stagger plantings at two week intervals. By doing this, you will prevent yourself from getting a huge and unmanageable crop at one time.
You can also plan for a fall crop as well as a spring crop. Just make sure that when planning for your fall crop, you consider when you are likely to get your first frost. You want to be able to harvest everything long before that.

Harvested peas, particularly snow peas and sugar snaps are great crops to freeze. You don't need to cook them at all before freezing them. Make sure though that they are thoroughly dry before putting them into freezer bags. You don't want any moisture in your freezer bags because that will cause the peas to get mushy. Mature peas come off the vines easily. You should not have to pull at the fruit to get it off the vine.

Fertilizing the peas immediately after planting is a good thing to do. For most fruiting plants or vegetables, you'd want to use a fertilizer that had a ratio of about 5 - 10 - 5. This ratio will encourage more fruit growth and less leaf growth. Most fertilizers like Miracle Grow contain a ratio of 10 - 5 - 10. Using a fertilizer that is specifically tailored for vegetables is a good idea. Once the seeds have sprouted and the plants are growing, be careful about using a fertilizer because it can burn the leaves of the plants.

Peas make a great addition to a salad - just raw. They are great in stir fries, great steamed, great when added to dishes or any other way you can think of using them.

Learn more about this author, Theresa Rose.
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