Last chance for snowpeas

Jun 29, 2020

While peas don’t tend to grow so well in the Bellinger valley area (they tend to do really well until about flowering time then suddenly wither to nothing), snowpeas are go!

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Snowpeas aren’t fond of warm weather and will die off as spring warms up. If you haven’t planted them yet, there’s still a couple of weeks to get them in with enough cool weather growing time for them to produce an edible crop of pods for you to enjoy. The leaves are edible too, especially the smaller growing tips.

These are plants that need a trellis. Some of them will reach two metres high. Set this up before you plant. They are easy to germinate from seed as most larger seeds are. Soak them overnight before planting (if you remember) and then do not overwater while you wait for them to come up. They rot easily. In fact, plant them into barely damp soil. They are an easy plant to grow. They almost grow themselves and when the snowpea pods start you’ll need to keep an eye on them daily because they grow so quick.

They are easy to save the seed from. I like to mark the first and largest pods from the healthiest looking plants. Normal people might tie a ribbon or a twist tie on the pod stem as markers, but I like my annual chance to be like Alice in Wonderland and I head out into the garden with a paintbrush and some blue poster paint. Eat other snowpeas but not these ones. Let your marked pods stay on the plant until they turn brown and start rattling. Then harvest, make sure they are dry (don’t cook them!!) and store until next year in a cool dry spot that weevils and rodents can’t get into. Then you’re on your way to your very own line of snowpeas well adapted to your backyard.