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Vegetable Gardening

Plump Sugar Snap Pea?

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

I was taking a trip to Michigan about 4 years ago and stopped at a farm stand and decided to buy a bag of sugar snap peas already out of their pods. At worst I was expecting them to taste something slightly better than frozen peas in a store. Nope, these peas were amazing.

Now that I have a house with some land I can use for gardening I decided that this year I would like to grow sugar snap peas. After reading reviews I chose super sugar snap peas from Burpee, which I'll be planting this weekend in Northern Illinois (stop me if this is too soon). Impatient and eager to relive the Michigan sugar snap experience I purchased some peas from my local grocery store. To my disappointment, the pods looked great but the flavor was mediocre and the peas were dinky.

That made me wonder and leads me to my question: are sugar snap peas generally smaller in size, or is my grocery store selling a poor-quality variety or did their vendor pick the pods too soon? I'm really hoping to get a plumper pea inside of the pod with the variety I purchased. Is there a variety of pea that is larger in size for sugar snap peas or are they all generally the same size? I've seen pictures of the Cascadia that looked to be more of what I was expecting. Just trying to get some confirmation that I'll be growing a quality pea pod and it won't look like my local grocery store assuming I take care of the plants. Thanks.

Image of pea pods from the store (Houzz image upload isn't working for me currently)

http://oi66.tinypic.com/2wco6du.jpg

Featured Answer

farmerdill

6 years ago

Most of the good shelling peas currently on the market are dwarf ( less than 30 inches) One of the best and readily available is Green Arrow. Generally look for deep green deeply wrinkled peas for flavor.

Dakota ( very short around 12 inches tall but productive with good flavor)

Mr. Big ; 18-20 inches Huge pods with big peas, productive and tasty but I prefer smaller peas.

Caseload

About 20 inches . I have grown a variety of shelling peas but these are in the top five for flavor and production

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Comments (6)

theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
For one, are you absolutely certain that what you bought were in fact Sugar Snaps? Snap peas are meant to be eaten pods and all and they do not shell out as easily as regular peas. I find it doubtful one would take the time to do that just to sell them. The person they were bought from could have been using some creative marketing.

As for the store bought peas, they sure look like young snap peas to me. They could have been left to grow a few more days and their lack of flavor is probably due to them being picked well before you bought them. Fresh peas, of any type, will taste better freshly picked as their flavor dimishes quickly after harvest.

Rodney
farmerdill
6 years ago
Concur; Snap peas have a fleshy pod and are a beast to shell even when fully ripe. Not recommended as a shelling pea.
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Found a little info for you (from the Illinois Extension Service) Harvesting Garden Peas When the pea pods are swollen (appear round) they are ready to be picked. Pick a few pods every day or two near harvest time to determine when the peas are at the proper stage for eating. Peas are of the best quality when they are fully expanded but immature, before they become hard and starchy. Peas should be picked immediately before cooking because their quality, especially sweetness (like that of sweet corn), deteriorates rapidly. The pods on the lower portion of the plant mature earliest. The last harvest (usually the third) is made about one week after the first. Pulling the entire plant for the last harvest makes picking easier. Sugar Snap Peas Snap peas should be harvested every 1 or 3 days, similarly to snow peas to get peak quality. Sugar snaps are at their best when the pods first start to fatten but before the seeds grow very large. At this point, the pods snap like green beans and the whole pod can be eaten. Some varieties have strings along the seams of the pod that must be removed before cooking. Sugar snaps left on the vine too long begin to develop tough fiber in the pod walls. These must then be shelled and used as other garden peas, with the fibrous pods discarded. Vining types of both sugar snap and snow peas continue to grow taller and produce peas as long as the plant stays in good health and the weather stays cool.
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defrost49
6 years ago
I looked up Cascadia Snap Pea and was surprised to see it sold as something you could eat whole if young or shelled if more mature. Usually sugar snap peas start to get starchy if they get that big. I would give it a try but I agree that the best part of sugar snap peas is not having to shell them. As a gardener you will find that some veggies lose their sweetness soon after picking. In the book Eating on the Wild Side which explains the history behind our cultivated food plants, I learned that asparagus is sweetest the first 4 hours after picking. From now on, we only pick what we are going to eat that night (we have a small bed).
naturegirl_2007 5B SW Michigan
6 years ago
I'm not sure what you bought at the farmstand, but I think you will enjoy eating the Super Sugar Snaps, pods and all. They are a favorite early season veggies at our house. And while they will keep in the refrigerator, they are at their very best soon after harvest. Ones that get overlooked and grow very large get shelled since I try to eat, not compost, whatever I can. But I'd rather eat them a few days earlier, pod and all.
James Watson
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for all the information thus far! I have the space for it as I am splitting seeds with a couple coworkers, but does anyone have a recommended shelling pea as well? Again, looking for something on the sweeter side if possible, though I am not expecting the sweetness of sugar snap peas. I have a 9 x 2 ft area in excess of what I already planned to use for the super sugar snap peas, so something that could grow there and not exceed 5 ft in height would be perfect.

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