Peas Sugar Snap

Pea is a frost-hardy, cool-season vegetable that can be grown throughout most of the United States, wherever a cool season of sufficient duration exists. Peas thrive in cool, moist weather and produce best in cool, moderate climates. Early plantings normally produce larger yields than later plantings. Peas may be planted whenever the soil temperature is at least 45°F, and the soil is dry enough to till without its sticking to garden tools.

Plantings of heat-tolerant varieties can be made in midsummer to late summer, to mature during cool fall days. Allow more days to the first killing frost than the listed number of days to maturity because cool fall days do not speed development of the crop as do the long, bright days of late spring. Spacing & Depth Plant peas 1 to 1-1/2 inches deep and one inch apart in single or double rows. Allow 18 to 24 inches between single or pairs of rows. Allow 8 to 10 inches between double rows in pairs. Sugar Snap Peas Snap peas should be harvested every 1 or 3 days, similarly to snow peas to get peak quality.

Sugar snaps are at their best when the pods first start to fatten but before the seeds grow very large. At this point, the pods snap like green beans and the whole pod can be eaten. Some varieties have strings along the seams of the pod that must be removed before cooking. Sugar snaps left on the vine too long begin to develop tough fiber in the pod walls. These must then be shelled and used as other garden peas, with the fibrous pods discarded. Vining types of both sugar snap and snow peas continue to grow taller and produce peas as long as the plant stays in good health and the weather stays cool.

Nutrition Facts (1/2 cup cooked garden peas) Calories 67 Dietary Fiber 2.4 grams Protein 4.3 grams Carbohydrates 12.5 grams Vitamin A 478 IU Vitamin C 11.4 mg Folic acid 50.7 micrograms Iron 1.2 mg Potassium 217 mg Magnesium 31 mgNutrition Facts (1/2 cup cooked snow peas) Calories 34 Dietary Fiber 1.4 grams Protein 2.6 grams Carbohydrates 5.6 grams Vitamin C 38.3 mg Iron 1.6 mg Potassium 192 mg Magnesium 21 mg (Approximately 1500 seeds per Lb.)