Pea Seeds

To grow sugar snap peas is both easy and rewarding and moreover they taste so much better than the ones that the store can offer. After harvest, they quickly lose both their crispness and sweet taste and anyone who has once felt the difference between homegrown and store-bought peas is forever lost!

Groups:
There are several different groups of pea varieties, and their harvest time and intended use differ between them.

Sugar snap peas are harvested before the seeds begin to swell, otherwise, they become stringy. One eats the entire pod with the peas and all.

Snow peas are a further refinement of sugar snap peas and can be harvested over a longer period as they do not become stringy. On the contrary, they become better in both taste and texture when more fully developed. Snow peas are also the pea variety that is best suited for freezing. Harvest them when the pea is fully developed and the pod is still crisp green.

Shelling peas, also known as English peas, are not usually eaten fresh but are dried and used to make soup. These are the peas that the classic pea soup should be made from.

Growing conditions and fertilization:
The growing conditions should always be open and have sun for as many hours as possible for good results. There are low-growing varieties that only reach 30-40 cm in height, but there are also those that grow up to two meters. Read carefully on the package how tall the different varieties grow so that it does not become too crowded. Peas can, with few exceptions, be grown throughout the country and grow on most soils as long as they are well-drained. However, the best results are obtained if the soil is both rich in humus and porous, and an annual addition of compost or well-rotted manure works wonders on tired soils. Since peas, like other legumes, have nitrogen-fixing bacteria on their roots, extra nitrogen fertilization is not necessary, on the contrary, it leads to weak plants and lower yields. However, it is good to add potassium and phosphorus when preparing the seedbed.

Sowing:
Peas are not as sensitive to cold soils as beans, and can, therefore, be sown earlier. For extra early harvest, they can also be sown indoors for later planting. Well-hardened plants or direct sowing usually withstand occasional frost nights without problems. Follow the instructions carefully for spacing on the package, and remember that tall-growing varieties will require support later on. Both birds and snails like germinating pea seeds, so watch out for these marauders and possibly put a fiber cloth over them until the plants have grown.

Care:
After germination and emergence, it is important to regularly weed. Peas have a poor ability to compete with weeds for both light and nutrients. When the plants have grown to about 10 cm, it is advantageous to hill soil around the stems so that they will stand much more firmly. At this stage, it is also time to set up support for taller varieties. The support can, for example, be a net stretched between poles, or why not use branches and twigs if available. These are stuck in the ground in the rows for the plants to climb on. The growing pea plant does not care which you choose, but it is important that it is done early as the plant takes off when it has found its support.

Harvest:
Peas grow quickly, and once the pods begin to swell, sugar snap peas can be harvested daily throughout the summer. It's important to harvest often before the seeds begin to swell because otherwise they become dull in texture and also stringy. Shelling peas are harvested when the pods and seeds start to dry on the plant. The drying process continues indoors, and once the seeds are completely dry, they can be stored at room temperature for a long time.

Issues:
Peas are generally very healthy and rarely suffer from problems. Aphids can sometimes attack the tops of young plants and can be easily treated with a plant care product or washed away with cold water from the garden hose.

Crop Rotation:
Peas, beans, and other legumes enrich the soil with nitrogen by living in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria naturally present in the soil. When you have finished harvesting the pea plants and remove them for composting, there is a lot of nitrogen left in the soil that can be used in the crop rotation. By sowing, for example, lettuce or cabbage that likes nitrogen after the pea harvest, they can utilize this surplus. Additionally, these can tolerate both low temperatures and a lot of frost, so it's possible to harvest well into late autumn/winter.