Early Pea Seeds

Useful gardening information

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. For gardening purposes, peas may be classified as garden peas (English peas), snap peas and snow peas (sugar peas). Garden pea varieties have smooth or wrinkled seeds. The smooth-seeded varieties tend to have more starch than the wrinkled-seeded varieties.
The wrinkled-seeded varieties are generally sweeter and usually preferred for home use. The smooth-seeded types are used more often to produce ripe seeds that are used like dry beans and to make split-pea soup. Snap peas have been developed from garden peas to have low-fiber pods that can be snapped and eaten along with the immature peas inside. Snow peas are meant to be harvested as flat, tender pods before the peas inside develop at all. The Southern pea (cowpea) is an entirely different warm-season vegetable that is planted and grown in the same manner as beans.
Get peas in the ground while the soil is still cool, but beware of excessive moisture caused by snowmelt or spring rain, as you don’t want the seeds to sit in wet soil. It’s a delicate balance of proper timing and weather conditions. If your garden tends to stay too wet, consider investing in raised garden beds.
A blanket of snow will not hurt emerging pea plants, but several days with temperatures in the teens could. Be prepared to plant again if the first peas don’t make it. Alternatively, try starting your peas in a cold frame.
A second round of peas can be planted in the late summer or early fall, approximately 6–8 weeks before your first fall frost date.

Informative articles found on the web:

How to grow Organic Peas

Seeds

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