The first snow peas of the season are a delicacy — crisp, sweet and tasty. More than that, they are the sign of many more garden meals to come. Once the peas start coming, the garden’s bounty has truly begun.
We will be reviewing the two types of Mangetout peas (snow and sugar) in this article but an overview of all the types of peas might be helpful given the general confusion over terms. The following definitions might help you differentiate between varieties when you're reviewing seed catalogues.
A pea primer
Shell peas (Pisum sativum) — the basic peas with fibrous pods. The peas are harvested as soon as the pods fill, and the green peas are removed from the pods before eating. Varieties include Tall Telephone, Laxton’s Progress,
Mangetout – peas with edible pods that don’t need to be shelled. The term literally means “eat all” in French. Mangetout peas includes the subcategories of sugar snap and snow peas. Note that these definitions are not clearly established— but for this article, I will use the following common definitions:
Snow peas (P. sativum var. saccharatum) — flat, edible-podded peas, well-suited to Asian dishes such as stir-fries. Examples include Oregon Giant, Mammoth Melting and Dwarf Grey Sugar.
Sugar snap peas (P. sativum var. macrocarpon) Developed by crossing a shell pea with a snow pea. sugar snaps, have plump, sweet, tender edible pods filled with sweet peas. They can be eaten raw, lightly steamed or stir-fried. Varieties include Sugar Snap, Sugar Ann, Sugar Daddy.
Dry peas — sometimes called soup peas, these have starchy (not sweet) peas and fibrous, inedible pods. Some shell and snow peas are multipurpose. Immature peas can be harvested as snow peas; mature dry peas can be used for soup. Varieties include a few colourful varieties of Capucijners, as well as Amish soup peas and St. Hubert soup peas.
Mangetout peas offer several advantages over shell peas. They often mature earlier and provide more food per plant (because of the edible pod). They also require less work to process. Just remove the blossom end, rinse and cook (or eat raw). The ease of preparation appeals to the customers at farmers’ markets who don’t to do any more work than cooking dinner from scratch. For home gardeners, mangetout peas can be easily cooked or frozen at a busy time of year.
Mangetout peas are also a treat. Whereas people can buy frozen peas year round, a fresh sugar snap is only available in the farmers’ market, CSA box or backyard garden.
Growing mangetout peas
Sugar, snow peas and shell peas are all planted and cultivated the same way — the only difference comes at harvest time.
Planting peas
In the gardening world, planting peas is a sure sign of spring. Peas like cool, moist soil and can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked. However, extra-early planting might give you bragging rights but not much else. Waiting a couple weeks can give you greater weed control, higher germination rates and sometimes even an earlier harvest (because the plants grow quickly when the soil isn’t too cold). When you plant in cold soil, there is a risk the peas will rot from soil borne diseases. The ideal soil temperature is 10C (50F). Peas can tolerate frost and even snow.
Peas can tolerate a rough seedbed. Sometimes you don’t need to till or disc, but can just rake or harrow before planting. If you have a problem with annual weeds, a ‘stale seedbed’ approach might help (see sidebar).
You can get adequate yields without applying compost or fertilizer because peas, like other legumes, fix nitrogen from the air. However, applying a rhizobial inoculant can increase yields of peas and increase rates of nitrogen fixation (which can help the crops planted the following year). Any pea inoculant can be used for mangetout peas. Many seed companies offer a ‘garden inoculant’ that works for both peas and beans (note inoculants intended for clover or alfalfa won’t work with peas).
A neutral pH is best. If you have an acidic soil, perhaps add some wood ashes or lime the fall before planting peas.
Pea seed can be soaked for several hours before planting to give them a head-start over weeds and hasten emergence. But you need to handle soaked peas carefully and this might not work with mechanical seeders.
When planting peas, think about ease of harvesting. If you plant too densely, you won’t be able to reach in to harvest all the peas. Dense plantings can also inhibit air circulation and increase the likelihood of fungal diseases. I plant a double row along a bed, peas about 2 inches apart in rows six inches apart, and plant them almost an inch deep.
Peas are great companions for salad greens and spinach. I often plant greens on the north side of the peas. The greens will get plenty of light in the spring while the peas are still growing. By the time the warm weather comes, the peas will shade the greens.
For a fall crop of peas, plant two to three months before you expect to harvest. Mangetout peas mature in about 65 days. The tricky part of planting fall peas is the soil temperature — peas prefer cool temperatures to germinate. Rather than using shade cloth, you can simply plant the fall crop in the shade of another crop that will be harvested in late summer.
Staking
While peas generally don’t require as robust staking as pole beans, most types of peas benefit from some support. If not staked, it is more difficult to harvest peas and air circulation is limited (again, this might lead to fungal diseases). Unlike pole beans, peas don’t climb well. They often need to be trained to wrap around supports. When growth is lush, they need support to help prevent the plants from slumping.
Peas can be supported using elaborate systems of stakes and string, or be grown against trellises. Peas can also be planted on either side of woven wire fencing. I go for a simple, free and biodegradable option. I poke branches into the soil in between and around the pea plants, sometimes tying several tops together.
Ideally, stakes or poles should be established when the peas are planted. For those of you who are less organized, I can tell you from my own experience that it doesn’t seem to hurt to add poles once the peas are tall and starting to lean.
In the Small Farm Canada trial, several peas were described in catalogues as not needing support. I found, however, that all benefitted from some staking and some of the plants I grew were much taller than what was described in the catalogues. When in doubt, add support.
Caring for peas
I weed peas a couple times in the spring and maybe just once more later in the season. Once the peas are established, they will shade out most weeds.
Peas like moist soil but take care when irrigating. Excessive moisture on the foliage can cause fungal problems. If irrigation is needed, water in the morning so the foliage will soon dry.
Harvesting
Most mangetout peas are ready 65-70 days after planting, often before shell peas. Snow peas are harvested when the peas are flat or just starting to bulge. Sugar snap peas are picked when the pods are plump and round. If in doubt, eat one in the field. Some varieties become tough or lose their sweetness when they are slightly over mature. Others, like the Brazilian snow pea, stay sweet and tender even when the peas are fully formed.
A large planting of peas can put a lot of pressure on a gardener. You can harvest one day and a couple days later, the plants will be full of mature peas again. Plan to pick mangetout peas every day or two.
There are two reasons to keep on top of harvesting. Over mature peas are often starchy and tough. More importantly, if you let pea seed mature, the plant will stop flowering. But if you keep picking the peas, some varieties will produce flowers and peas for many weeks.
Try to avoid harvesting or handling pea plants when they are wet. Wait until the dew has dried and you are less likely to have problems with powdery mildew or other fungal diseases.
For the Small Farm Canada trial, I compared twelve varieties of mangetout peas. In some cases, I found that my crop didn’t quite match the description in the seed catalogue. Overall, all of the varieties had good flavour and decent yields. They differed in the size of pod (data below is an average of ten mature pods), plant height, productivity and duration of season.
The peas were grown near the Bay of Fundy in New Brunswick where summers are relatively cool (25C is considered a very hot day). Seed was soaked and inoculated before planting. All varieties were planted on May 25th and measurements taken on August 25th.
Hope Seeds Super Sugar Snap
Described by Hope Seeds as a “crunchy, sweet snap pea”.
Type: sugar snap
Height: 5 feet tall, needs a little support
Flower colour: white
Length of pod: 6.3 cm, 2.5 inch
Review: Heavy producer of snap peas.
Johnny's Sugar Snap OG
Introduced in 1979. Considered by Johnny’s Seeds to be the most flavourful snap variety.
Type: sugar snap
Height: 5.5 feet tall, needs support
Flower colour: white
Length of pod: 7.0 cm, 2.7 inch
Review: Heavy yields of snap peas but a small fraction were thin-walled (like snow peas)
Terra Edibles Sugar Snap
“An edible podded pea that tastes as terrific raw as it does cooked,” according to Terra Edibles. “Round pods have thick walls and will snap when bent.”
Type: sugar snap
Height: sweetest 5.5 feet tall, needs some support
Flower colour: white
Length of pod: 8.4 cm, 3.3 inch
Review: Sweetest of all varieties—continued to produce peas for months
West Coast Seeds Sugar Snap Lace II
WEST COAST SUGAR SNAP LACE II
According to West Coast Seeds, “Sweet, stringless pods are borne on 80cm (30″) semi-leafless vines that do not require support . . . Sow Sugar Lace II seeds for giant harvests of very sweet snap peas. This variety is resistant to powdery mildew and pea enation mosaic virus, so it handles the cool weather at the end of the season better than others.”
Type: sugar snap
Height: 2.5-3 feet high; Said to be a ‘semi-leafless pea’ in that the plant mostly produces tendrils and pods. I found that staking helped the plant because otherwise the dense network of tendrils made it difficult to harvest.
Flower colour: very light peach colour
Length of pod: 7.7 cm, 3.0 inch
Review: Produced the highest yield of all the snap peas. Produced heavily for months.
Sugar Snap Lace II Pea
Salt Spring Seeds Brazilian Pea
The Brazilian Pea is, according to Salt Spring Seeds, the largest of the edible-pod peas. The “bug-resistant pods. … are best when pods are full. Stays succulent a long time.”
Type: snow
Height: 6 feet, staking helped
Flower colour: light pink
Length of pod: 11.2 cm, 4.4 inch
Review: Good production—started a bit later than the other peas but produced well until late in the season. Less finicky in terms of harvesting. It was tender and sweet whether picked as a flat pea or when the peas were round and full size.
Brazilian Pea
BRAZILIAN
Salt Spring Seeds Cascadia Snap Pea
Described by Salt Spring Seeds as producing “high yields of thick, juicy deep green pods. Can be used at the edible pod stage or as a shelling pea. Very sweet.”
Type: snow
Height: 3 feet, staking not necessary but helps to reduce slug damage
Flower colour:
Length of pod: 10.5 cm, 4.1 inch
Review: Good production over a fairly long season.
Baker Creek Corne de Belier Snow Pea
“A delicious French snow pea that pre-dates 1860!,” according to Baker Creek Seeds. “Wonderful, gourmet flavored, large, flat pods are perfect for steaming, sautéing and nibbling on fresh from the patch. A historic variety.”
Type: snow
Height: 5.5 feet tall, needs a bit of support
Flower colour: white
Length of pod: 8.4 cm, 3.3 inch
Review: Good production over a fairly long season.
Hope Seeds Schweizer Riesen
SCHWEIZER
This strain came to Hope Seeds from Mike and Melba Rabinowitz of The Organic Farm in Newfoundland. According to Hope Seeds, “The vines are tall and need staking, flowers are a gorgeous purple, and snow pea pods are large and delicately flavoured.”
Type: snow
Height: 6 ft, needed only a bit of support
Flower colour: purple pink
Length of pod: 12.6 cm, 4.9 inch
Review: Largest of all the snow peas in the trial — heavy production early in the season but didn’t produce as long as other varieties.
Schweizer Riesen Pea
Johnny's Oregon Giant Peas
“Sweet berries inside big sweet pods combine for a delicious flavor treat,” according to Johnny’s Selected Seeds. “High yields of large, 4½" x 1", medium green, flat pods. High resistance to fusarium wilt race 1, pea enation mosaic virus and powdery mildew”
Type: snow
Height: 5 feet tall, needs a bit of support
Flower colour: white
Length of pod: 9.8 cm, 3.8 inch
Review: Large-podded snow pea that produced for many weeks.
Richters Taiwan Sugar Pea SowNatural
“Some call this pea the "Queen of the Orient" because it is so often added to stir fries,” states Richters Seeds. “The sweet crisp fresh pods are excellent in salads. Harvest early before the peas form inside so pods are tender and sweet.”
Type: snow
Height: 3-5ft but the plant slumps, needed support
Flower colour: pale pink
Length of pod: 10.5 cm, 4.1 inch
Review: Short production season but sweet flavour for a flat-podded pea.
Terra Edibles Dwarf Grey Sugar
“An early and quite small sugar pea,” according to Terra Edibles. “The 2.5" pods are light green, curved, sweet and very tender. For best quality, pods should be harvested before they develop large peas. At 24"-30" tall, this good yielding pea does not need staking and is admired for its purple flowers.”
Type: snow
Height: 5-6 feet tall, needs a bit of support, some tough, thin-walled pods
Flower colour: purple pink
Length of pod: 7.0 cm, 2.7 inch
Review: ‘Dwarf’, in this case, refers to the size of the pea, not the plant . . . huge plant with gorgeous blossoms followed by heavy production of short and skinny sugar snaps. Some seemed to be thin-walled (seemed like regular peas or snow peas).
Dwarf Grey Sugar Pea
DWARF GREY SUGAR
West Coast Seeds Mammoth Melting Sugar
According to West Coast Seeds, “Among the largest available snow peas ... the pods are sweet and tender, even sweeter and more tender than Dwarf Gray Sugar. Plants are high yielding, early, uniform, and productive. This variety is more productive in cool weather, so it’s perfect for early spring planting, and a second planting in early August for fall production…Wilt resistant.”
Type: snow
Height: 5-6 feet tall, needs some support
Flower colour: white
Length of pod: 9.8 cm, 3.8 inch
Review: Long-lasting production of large, sweet snow peas.
Making a stale seedbed
Rake, harrow or till the soil as needed. Wait 10-14 days or until weeds have just emerged. Then kill the weeds by flaming or very shallow raking/harrowing (not as deep as the original cultivation because you don’t want to bring more seeds to the surface). Plant immediately afterwards.