So Many Types of Peas, So Little Time to Eat Them!
Peas are one of my favorite vegetables, and there are so many types of peas out there I don’t know what to do with myself. I can appreciate a good sweet pea even though I know they are a very starchy vegetable. On a mission to figure out how I can save money on vegetables and fruits I decided to learn how to grow my own. So, I did some light reading on peas to figure out how many types of peas there are and which ones I can grow on my own.
Peas are actually pretty easy to grow, but you just have to watch them so you can harvest them at the right time. You want to get them when they almost perfectly rounded and tender. You also have to make sure that you are giving them the proper soil, don’t just run out and buy a bag of starter potting mix. Peas grow best a in a soil with low acidity. The major consideration you might want to make is how many you need to plant. The number of those who are going to be eating these peas will help you figure out how much space you need to allot to growing your peas.
Garden peas take a little bit more patience to harvest because they grow in a shell. If you have ever canned green beans, what you will see looks very similar but the peas are on the inside. Snap peas can be eaten as they are, and if you are a fan of Asian food you can easily identify snap peas since they use them in many of their dishes. Again, they resemble a green bean, but imagine that you have to crack open that shell and get each pea out. That is the kind of growing patience you will need for your pea harvest. While shelling out your peas, be careful not to eat too many or you won’t have any left for dinner!
There are three edible types of peas:
- The green peas are my favorite. These are the ones when harvesting that will look more like green beans and have a little string to unlock the shell. The peas just look like little emeralds, and I love to put a little butter on them right after I heat them up. A little butter adds a lot of flavor.
- The snap peas are edible as they are, and are a family favorite especially when it comes to Asian cooking. These are really tender, so you can eat them just as they are including the seeds.
- Last but not least, the snow peas. These peas are also very common in Asian dishes, and most often used in dishes that are stir fried. These are grown easily in climates that boast long springs and late falls. They tend to like a cooler environment.
There are shorter bushes that produce a smaller pea and don’t require a lot of maintenance, but the taller plants that produce large types of peas will probably need some stake work. Make sure that if you aren’t familiar with how to use stakes with your plants, that you ask the good people of Home Depot Garden Center how to do it. You might want to get some small thin wire and tie the stems to the stakes if the heads fall over.
Pea’s like that cool, moist environment so make sure your climate is right before investing in growing this green gem. If you live in an area that gets a lot of rain like Seattle, you might want to use a raised bed so the water can filter down. If the area where you live is experiencing a drought or just a very dry season, take care in watering your plants so that they can thrive. In doing so, that will help make sure that soil doesn’t get too warm which may also affect how your peas grow.
The garden peas, snow peas and snap peas are definitely the types of peas that we are more likely to grow well here in the Midwest. Just make sure that you watch the weather though since we never really know what our forecast is going to be these days!