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The thought of fresh peas, harvested right out of the garden, and cooked until they are mouth watering, is enough to get a belly growling. The good news is that peas aren't hard to grow, they are hardy, and they can produce surprisingly large amounts of peas per plant.

Peas are typically thought of as cold weather crops, since they do the best in the cool temperatures of early spring and late fall. They don't tend to produce as heavily during the hotter months of the summer. However, if properly grown in spring and fall, a 75-foot row can produce enough peas for a family of 4, for the year.

When purchasing seeds, select the versions that are best for the amount of area you have to grow in. For instance, if you are limited for space, bush peas are probably a better idea than climbing or vine peas. The seeds should be fairly fresh, not over a year old. When they get older than this, some of them may germinate, but the failure rate rises drastically.

Soak the peas overnight in water before planting. This isn't absolutely necessary, but it does speed up germination time and often leads to healthier pea plants. I don't recommend buying peas in pots, simply because when they are transplanted, they will go through a period of shock that will slow down their growing process.

Peas can be planted in furrows, or simply by poking a hole an inch deep and dropping a pea in the hole, then covering it with soil. Either way, they will grow well, especially if the soil is porous.

The plant is a legume, so it does the best in loose soil, and doesn't do that well in heavy clay soil. However, breaking up clay soil and adding mulch or compost can help the plants to grow much better.

Peas also love lots of sunlight. Planting in a southern exposure area is a great idea, and will usually result in larger crops. Bees and hummingbirds are also the friends of peas as they can help with pollination.

The plants will also grow best if they are stringed up or given plenty of support so they can grow up rather than over the surface of the ground. This is true of bush peas as well as runner peas.

You can give them a boost by using mulch or home made fish 'soup'. Peas are a plant that grows best when it has plenty of plant food, so this can easily result in a bumper crop.

The most common pest is aphids, which can be removed by using a spray of dish soap and water.

Especially with the colder than normal weather throughout much of the world, with longer cooler springs and earlier autumns, peas are almost a perfect crop. They love the cool weather and actually produce more heavily during colder weather. Garden grown peas are also sweeter and more flavorful than the store bought or canned variety.

So you have decided to grow peas in your garden. That is a terrific decision, and good luck. You won't need it, but it is always nice to have.

Learn more about this author, Rex Trulove.
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