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Peas are one of the easier vegetables to grow in your spring garden. Since peas are quite often the first vegetable ready for harvest, this delicious veggie gives you a chance of hope that summer is near.
Today I’m going to show you how to grow peas so that you can enjoy this crisp, fresh veggie all garden season long. And actually, all winter long too! We’ve got an article that explains the easiest way to preserve peas.
How to Grow Peas
Pick Your Variety
There are two types of peas to grow, non-edible or edible pod. With these two types, you’ll find the options of dwarf or bush.
Dwarf peas grow to be about 16-30 inches tall while the bush peas can grow upwards of three feet or higher.
You’ll find that the taller peas will grow slower throughout the season, while your dwarf pea’s variety will grow in abundance quickly.
We always grow heirloom peas – that way, every year we can save our own pea seed. Saves us money and we are able to stay away from GMO seeds.
Also we always grow shelling peas, but a lot of people like snow peas – these have edible pods and you don’t have to bother shelling. It’s important to grow what you like and what you will eat, right?
Plant Peas Early
Peas can thrive in cooler temperatures making them one of the first crops to plant. As soon as you can get into the garden for planting, get your pea seeds in the ground.
They say a good rule of thumb is to plant your peas by St. Patrick’s Day. If not by then, just make sure you plant your peas about one month before your region’s frost-free date.
Start Outdoors
While you can start seeds inside and then transplant, young pea plants tend to not do well when transplanted from indoors to outdoors. Even in our northern climate, we directly seed peas right into the garden.
I highly suggest you start the process of growing peas in your spring garden outdoors as seedlings to avoid damage to the roots during the transplant of young plants.
Prepare The Soil
Peas will grow faster if the soil is kept around 60 degrees Fahrenheit while a 40 degree Fahrenheit soil will extend the harvest date out a few weeks.
Be sure to use plenty of compost to get your soil to a pH level of 6.0-7.5 as this is the most tolerable level of soil for peas.
Plant Peas in Double Rows
To get the best bang for your buck, plant peas in double rows. See the photo above for what I mean. If you already go to the trouble of hanging some type of pea fencing why not double your yield?
This is an important part of your garden plan – how much food can you fit in a smaller space?
That photo also gives a good idea of how close to plant peas. I like to plant very close together!
Use Stakes or Pea Fencing
Since peas will grow like a vine, it’s important to give your plants a place to grow upward. You can use garden stakes or decorative fencing in your spring garden.
We usually use T posts (because we have lots on hand) and chicken wire or page wire. Or we grow them along an existing fence, which makes it even easier.
This will ensure your peas have ample space to grow upwards and harvest plenty of vegetables for your healthy eating pleasure.
Making sure your peas have good support also means easier (and cleaner) picking when it is harvest time.
Growing Peas in Containers or Pots
Peas have shallow roots, meaning they don’t need to be grown in really deep pots. You won’t get as much of a harvest growing peas in containers, but you certainly will get a harvest!
Just be sure to give your peas some vertical support, using perhaps a trellis or grow them in pots along a deck. Peas will grow around the pickets of your deck or fence just fine.
Plant seeds close together; 1/2 inch is fine when you are growing peas in pots.
Water Once a Week
Finally, it’s important that you don’t let your peas get too damp. A good deep watering once per week will ensure your harvest grows healthy.
When your pea pods are maturing in the hotter weather season you’ll want to increase the water to make certain your peas produce healthy pods.
Lastly, be sure to read the seed packet for the best tips to grow your peas in your edible garden.
These tips shared today will help you learn how to grow peas but the key is to confirm these details on your seeds package before planting your peas.
Growing peas may be a slight learning experience as you work to determine the best variety of peas to grow in your area and whether you want an early harvest or later summer harvest.
Ask gardening friends or neighbours what variety of peas they find do well in your area.
Since peas enjoy being grown close together you won’t need as much square footage space and can easily enjoy growing these peas closely to keep weed growth down.
These are just some of the basic tips to help you grow peas this year. I hope that I’ve provided ample information to get you started in the right direction to grow peas.
How to Preserve Your Own Food
Would you like to learn about how to preserve your own food? This link will take you to an article that details EVERY post on this website about preserving.
Whether it’s canning, freezing or pickling, you will find links that explain every process.
Want to know the easiest way to preserve peas? Take a look – make this the year you start growing some of your own food!