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Vegetable Gardening

I'm up to my knees in peas!

16 years ago

Peas have finally started yielding this week! I waited FOREVER for them to flower, it seems like, and then once they did I was eating peas within days. It is so quick at this time of year. Phenomenal growth in May, then a flush of flowers, then BOOM, I'm up to my knees in peas!

How is the rest of zone 6 doing on the critical pea front?

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Comments (11)

josie23
16 years ago
Zone 5 report: Mine were flowering nicely this weekend. Will be out there again tomorrow night to see if any pods are comming. Maybe by early next week.....
orangedragonfly
16 years ago
when did you plant your peas? mine are definatly growing,but not as fast as I thought. I think I may have started them to late.
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Hi Rita, My spring cucumber harvest was incredible. We planted Marketmore cukes. This fall has been very tough on the cukes. I have had a Seminole pumpkin growing since last spring, one vine is 72 ft and growing. The SVB were the hardest to over come. Try spraying with BT once every 7 - 10 days for the caterpillars. There is also some good info on the web on how to cut the SVB out of the vine without killing the vine. I also used Neem oil, this was only as needed for disease and if the powdery mildew gets bad spray with a copper like Kocide. BT & Neem are organic and I think the Kocide is also. I found a book at the library, Rodale's "Find it fast answers for vegetable gardens" Lots of good info on how to grow & defeat the pests. I have some pickling cukes on the trellis but its been a fight with all the pests. I still hope to can some up... Good luck and don't give up. Here is a link that might be useful: Rodale Find it fast answers to Vegetable Gardening
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Comments (10)
Mine are going crazy with blooms right now, and we've been harvesting for a little over a week. So far the harvest hasn't been huge, but it has been steady. They seemed to stall on those days our high temps were in the 93-98 degree range, but now that it is a little cooler here, they are a little happier and putting out new growth and tons of blooms. I think the rain we got, which only was a half-inch, pleased them greatly. I'm hoping this week's cold front makes them even more happy. At least our sugar snap peas aren't being hailed upon, flooded or being hit by tornadoes. As long as they are still alive and rain is falling, I think they'll keep producing for a while. The wind today did beat the crap out of them. Kim, I always freeze some, but only about 1 year out of 3 do I put tons and tons of them in the freezer. Tim was out of town on business most of last week, so I didn't even pick them and take them into the house. I just picked them and munched on them while working in the garden---instant, garden-fresh fast food. In the fall, you'll probably need row cover to keep them happy long enough to produce. While they tolerate very cold temperatures, if the cold temps hit while they are blooming or about to bloom, those cold temperatures can knock the blooms right off the plants. I don't cover them up at night unless we're expecting temperatures below the mid-20s. Sometimes we get a night or two like that in late Sept or early Oct, but it is more common to get them in November. If you want to grow a variety that doesn't need to be trellised, I grew Cascadia two years ago and Sugar Lace last year, and both of them produced tons and tons of peas----more than my Super Sugar Snaps or Sugar Snaps growing on trellises were able to produce. Because we've already had high temps here hit 98 degrees a couple of times and 93-95 more often than I can believe for May, I am worrying that the green beans won't begin blooming early enough to avoid heat-related blossom drop. Instead of succession sowing some more green beans, I'm going to plant an enormous number of southern peas instead because the heat can't stop them from producing. My mind has moved beyond the warm-season crops to the hot-season crops because it seems like we have gone from the cool season to the hot season in a very brief period of time. My short day onions are bulbing up. It always happens at this time of the year, and it always catches me by surprise. I have to count backwards from now to the time I planted them, realize it is time for them to start bulbing up and say "okay, this is normal". All the cool-season plants I planted are doing better than the sugar snap peas, but that is not unusual. They are the most finicky when it comes to having 32 degree temperatures one morning and then 98 degree temperatures a day or two later. They don't like those crazy temperature swings. I get the best sugar snap pea harvest when we consistently stay cool and moist. This year cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be described as cool and moist---hence the sugar snap pea behavior.
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What’s up with my peas?
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Comments (11)
"Many thanks to the both of you! New gardener here. Starting from seed is proving difficult for me so I appreciate you taking the time!" Hi HP, being a new gardener is a learning process for sure, even after 50+ years of gardening I'm still learning good info too. Since you are in Z-6 you could most likely plant your peas seeds directly in the garden now and skip the indoor starts (next year). Peas (seed) don't mind being planted in cool soil and can handle cold temps well down to mid 20's without damage (from my experience). I planted my pea seed here last week (Z-7 outside) and they are starting to pop up now, so even it if snows now they won't be hurt by it unless a Hard freeze in the teens hits to set them back. As mentioned though you may need to acclimate you indoor pea starts to outdoor conditions before transplanting them. ETA....if you have some leftover pea seeds it may be worthwhile to experiment and plant some of them outside now and compare their progress with the indoor peas once you transplant them outside. After a month or so you may find that the seeds planted outside catch up to the transplants, if so of if not, then you can decide how to handle planting your peas next year.
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marial1214
16 years ago
Zone 6. My snap peas sprouted April 23rd and today May 30th they are about 1 1/2 feet high. I have not seen any flowers yet. When did you plant yours and how high are yours now?
josie23
16 years ago
Planted them either April 15 or 22 (log book in my DH's car) They came up within a week. Just planted another row 3 weeks ago to extend the harvest.
josie23
16 years ago
They are about up to my knees. These are little marvel a shelling pea. My edible pod (Oregon Giant) are also about knee high but have not started to flower yet. I think it depends on the vareity; Little marvel are supposed to be an early pea (nice and sweet too).
moosemac
16 years ago
Had to wait for the mud pit to dry out so mine got in very late, 4/30. Yesterday the "Woodchuck Buffet" opened for business and he got about 2/3's of my peas and every darn head of lettuce. Gives a whole new meaning to the "All You Can Eat Buffet"! Hopefully we've patched the fence where he was entering his dining establishment and just maybe I'll be able to get some Fall peas.
raisemybeds
Original Author
16 years ago
I planted these on March 14, directly sowed them in a raised bed and popped a coldframe cover over the whole thing to help the germination a bit. Took 2 weeks to germinate. I waited until they were all up and then whipped the cover off to allow them to grow in the nice cool air of early Spring. Mulched well with shredded leaves. Watered well. This variety is Sugar Sprint, which only gets 2 feet tall but yields very respectably. I highly recommend it. Mine are supported with the short cheap wire push-in garden edging fences that come in 10ft. packages. I have 5 double rows of peas in a 3 by 8 bed. It's a pea paradise.
soonergrandmom
16 years ago
I also have a lot of peas. I planted Sugar Snap on a cattle panel and they are about 6 feet tall now. I planted early and they made it through temps of high 20s with no cover. I took a mini vacation last week and when I returned I picked almost a gallon. I have had to pick everyday since. We like them raw or immature (snow pea style) for stir fry. We have put 10 stir fry packs in the freezer plus had all we can eat and I am still not keeping up. We had half a day of sunshine today, then rain, so I am sure they will be covered again tomorrow. They are very good tho!

You can see the peas on the cattle panel here. I have two tomatoes that should be ready next week. My three earliest plants were in wall-o-water and are a couple of weeks ahead of my other plants. More sun and heat would be nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pea Vines
nygardener
16 years ago
Mine are just starting to flower, one immature pod on a Thomas Laxton plant (all are shelling peas). Some were started indoors in late March and others were direct-seeded in late April. They seem to be doing fine in this crazy hot weather but I hope they have a chance to bear!
hamiltongardener
16 years ago
Zone 6 here. Great growth in the pea plants but just starting to flower.
vera_eastern_wa
16 years ago
No flowering here yet! I sowed mine on March 17th and they were up within 2 weeks. I have Oregon Sugar Pod II

Vera

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