It all depends on how you like your peas. I personally don't like canned peas so if I have extra I freeze them. Not that I ever have extra. ;

Mr. Big is just a large podded dwarf English pea. Planting instructions should be the same as for any wrinkled seed english pea ie as soon as the ground can be worked. Fairly productive, but as good as Green Arrow. Mr. Big with Early Alaska for comparison

I have the first one you listed at the $499 price. It works great. But just the same as in hand shelling if the peas are still green it will only mash them and not shell them. It will shell dry peas and beans just as quick as you can feed it which is why I bought it since I process about 100 bushels beans and peas for seed each season. On fresh shellies it is a little slower but can easily do a bushel in 30 mins but must manually by hand insert the peas or beans small end first into the rollers if they go in randomly and go thru parallel to the rollers it will mash the seed and not shell. So I load a peck or so on the tray then as quickly as I can feed the peas in at right angle to the rollers or pointed end first. I also have a little hand sheller that I bought from redhill general store and it works great sitting on the porch doing small batches. I mounted my hand sheller on a board that fits over a wooden box. This holds the sheller in place and it is quite fast. I would recommend the $38 hand sheller over the $499 sheller for a few bushels of peas works great and I have used mine for 5-6 years now. I still use the hand sheller when doing up a mess for a meal rather than setting up the electric one for a few peas and having to clean it after wards. I have not had luck with either shelling Butter beans in the shelly stage but works great for all bry beans. Rodger Here is a link that might be useful: pea sheller

i tried Sugar Sprint this year which is smaller and not as delicious as Super Sugar Snap but is only about 2 or 3 feet tall and stringless. i like to let SSS get really fat before harvest, is it just me or do they seem to get sweeter that way? The pods must be strung at any age but it is so much easier to string a fresh pea. queenofthemountain, did you get to taste any of the Sugar Snaps to compare to Super Sugar Snap? i have heard others say the taste is better? But also what your experience confirms, no resistance to PM. i was suprised to discover that snap peas come in yellow and purple. i know Sylvia grew some Golden Sweet snow peas recently and i just received some Opal Creek and Sugar Magnolia seeds. Anyone else trying any of the colored podded peas?