It is August. It is hot. It is hard to imagine cool days and frosty nights – but they are right around the corner! If you haven’t started planting or thinking about planting your fall garden – now is the time!
I have four children who disagree on plenty, but they all agree that sugar snap peas are delicious. No matter how many I grow, we eat every single one. Sweet, crisp, refreshing, Yum!
Sugar snap peas can be grown in the spring or fall here in Kentucky. They like cool weather.
Why you should plant sugar snap peas:
• They have their own travel pack in the form of a pod.
• Sugar snap peas are another cool season crop you can plant right now.
• They are an inexpensive plant to grow since they grow easily from seed.
• They are a no fuss crop: not many pests, diseases, or worries.
• If you plant them in your garden they will be free.
I have been growing sugar snap peas for years and haven’t experienced any major difficulties. Trust me, I’ll let you know when a pain-in-the-neck variety comes on the scene. Things like cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts give me indigestion. I have pretty much banished them from my garden this year. Go here to read all about my cabbage worm experiences.
Stupid cabbage worms.
Sugar snap peas are easy to grow and don’t get cabbage worms all over them. Happiness.
Sugar snap peas really need something to climb. I have grown them on the ground in a clump-bush like format … but it’s not pretty and I’m fairly sure the peas don’t like it.
I am using a section of cattle panel as my pea trellis. Sixteen-foot cattle panels are $19.99 at my local farm store. I love to use these as trellises in my garden. For most of my beds I cut the panels in half. I attach the cattle panels to some stakes driven into the ground. Easy.
When sugar snap peas have something to climb they will soar.
Once the trellis is in place, open the bag of peas and sprinkle them on the ground around the trellis.
Next, just poke the peas an inch into the ground.
Poke! Poke! Poke!
All they need now is plenty of water. If you happen to live in one of the many areas experiencing “rain-forest-like” weather here in the United States – your peas will be fine. If it is dry where you live, give them plenty of water. They’ll need water for about two weeks to get a good start.
Once you see sprouts, they’ll be fine.
All that’s left to do is pick and enjoy the crisp, sweetness of summer’s end.
Harvest the peas when the pods are fat and plump. This means the pods will be crunchy and the peas will be sweet.
We enjoy eating the entire pod.
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Happy Gardening!